


House of Hell

by justatomboy9



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Fan Characters, Gen, Graphic Description, Novel, Spoilers, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:10:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 71
Words: 237,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justatomboy9/pseuds/justatomboy9
Summary: It is 1983 when 6-year-old Matthew--who deals with a mean older brother--and his sibling's girlfriend, Grace, hear about more menacing versions of the Freddy Fazbear characters running around town and killing innocent people. The terrifying event turns into a tough fight when Matthew and Grace are soon forced to team up with friends, strangers, and cops to track down the animatronics and destroy them for good, even if a person in the group gets too close and risks their own life just to save the others. It is a nightmare that Matthew, Grace, and the rest happen to fall into without any of them being asleep one bit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind of these things:  
\- This story is copied from my Wattpad.  
\- This story contains graphic and disturbing content.  
\- This story takes place outside of a dream.  
\- Non-canon events and characters play a role in here.

There he was, humiliating his little sibling again.

Matthew stared fearfully up at his older brother, as the disrespectful man hiding behind his fox mask laughed at the poor kid. Michael, taking off the mask, smiled at the defenseless child. The older sibling placed his fox mask on a nearby table and crossed his arms.

"Matthew, Mathew," Michael chuckled. "I love how much of a baby you look right now."

Matthew felt tears streaming down his face. He kept walking backwards in order to avoid any contact with Michael, and once he had the chance, Matthew turned away to run towards the kitchen. He wanted to hide in any isolated area he could find--anywhere that he felt safe and out of his brother's sight.

"You...don't need...to...hurt...me. I...I can't..." Matthew's voice was cut off by his overwhelming fear and distress.

Michael noticed he was going to run, and he grabbed Matthew's arm before the little brother had the full opportunity to go in another room.

"Just where do you think you're going, little man?" Michael asked. "Do you think I am done with you yet?"

Matthew screamed and cried even more. He tried fighting back his mean brother by kicking and hitting him. While he may have been hurting Michael, it only encouraged him to be more aggressive.

"You listen here!" Michael yelled. "You keep fighting me back like this, I'll tell our parents! Do you understand?"

Matthew never understood. All he knew was that he has been stuck, all alone, with his brother for almost a week. He was unsure about where his parents were and whether they left them alone for a reason. He has been scared of coming out of his room ever since his mother and father walked out the front door and never came back in his sight again. Matthew had to rely on dealing with his brother until they come back, or if they come back.

He may have been hiding in his room a lot, but his terrifying older brother has gained access to his locked bedroom. Michael had broken the lock off both his doors, making Matthew more vulnerable and his safety just more invulnerable. However, he has been very careful about going in his room, as Michael found a way to lock Matthew in, despite no locks being visible on the door knobs from outside.

Due to the constant fear of his brother, Matthew has also found himself barely eating since their parents left all of a sudden. Michael knew that his brother was starving. He would occasionally force him to eat something, but with Matthew terrified of being bullied by his older brother, he would just go and hide somewhere in the house.

The last thing Matthew remembered eating was some leftover food from his favorite downtown diner called Fredbear's Family Diner. The diner there was a family-friendly place for both children and grown-ups, and, like other places that had events for children, birthday parties were available for any kid who were about to celebrate their special day. The parents would just have to reserve a party for their son or daughter.

Matthew had his own party reserved there an exact week prior to the sudden disappearance of his and Michael's parents. With the popularity of the diner, his mother and father had to wait a while before Matthew's party could be held. At first, he was pumped for his birthday party, but ever since being left with his brother, the party was no longer a thing he was focused on.

It was his terrifying brother that he was only worried about.

Matthew knew that his brother was blind. Michael saw his little brother as the perfect type of person to constantly pick on in order for him to feel like he was better than him. He knew that with Matthew crying and fearing him, Michael took the time to notice the weakness within his own brother and feel all of the strength building up in him. Every time Matthew could not do something that would teach his older sibling a lesson, Michael took matters in his own hands. Personality-wise, he was impaired; he could not see the results of the harm being done to Matthew.

The little boy helplessly struggled to break free from Michael's strong grip, but couldn't. He screamed once more at him, begging him to let him go, and more tears went down his face. Michael only laughed a second time and tightened his grasp on Matthew's wrist even more. The more he held onto him, the more Matthew desperately wanted him to release him.

"Think you could run off from me?" Michael pulled Matthew closer to him and stared down at him angrily. "Wherever our parents are at, they are gone for sure. I'm the boss here now!"

Matthew looked up at him, and the little boy used his freed hand to take Michael's hand off him. He quickly, yet forcefully, pulled Michael's tough hand off his wrist, and after a small battle of releasing himself free, Matthew was now out of Michael's grip. Worried about being grabbed again, he immediately took off towards the kitchen before his brother could snatch him a second time.

Finally being able to hide underneath the nearest hiding spot, which was underneath the kitchen table, Matthew silently and breathlessly watched Michael's feet walk past the table--with the big brother being unable to easily spot him. The little boy, now crying, held his Fredbear plush close to his chest, the bear's ear right by where his heart was beating quickly. Matthew lifted his knees up towards the bottom flat surface of the table and buried his face in his folded arms, which were propped up on his knees. The stuffed bear was now in a different position; it was laying in Matthew's lap and was no longer being held.

Matthew lifted his head up and saw his brother's feet stop moving. Michael called out for Matthew, laughing extremely loud, and kept on yelling, "Little man, where are you? Hide and seek is over!"

Still crying, Matthew felt himself shake, and he buried his face again, trying to hide his visible tears. He kept thinking to himself about how he could escape his obnoxious, practically abusive, brother without him knowing. He tried to come up with a plan through his head, but with all the stress coming to him, he could not think at all. Matthew decided that he should just give up.

Mom, Dad, he said to himself. Why'd you leave us? Why leave me with my rude brother?

Matthew restrained himself from making any noise as he was crying, as doing so would tell Michael where he was. Matthew knew that if he made one simple sound, he was in trouble again. He had the need to scream, from being overwhelmed by his bullying brother, but he reminded himself that he'd rather be safe than sorry.

Michael's feet turned around and eventually moved towards the living room. Matthew let out a silent breath of relief and crossed his legs. He stared down at his Fredbear plush and held it close to him, embracing the safety that the small bear had. After a moment of hugging it, he faced it towards him.

"You are my only friend," he whispered, still physically shaking. "Yes, you are my friend. Seems like I have no real friends, but that's okay; you make me feel safe. No one else makes me feel safe when my brother is around."

Matthew carefully placed the Fredbear plush next to him and crawled towards the outside of the table. He slowly pulled up the cloth, peeking out to see if Michael was anywhere in sight, but luckily, he was not. Matthew grabbed the plush's right arm and crawled out from his temporary hiding space. He stood up and snuck his way out of the small kitchen.

"Ah, whatever!" Michael hollered from the other room. "Hide from me all you want, but I'll get you again! You can't stay hidden forever, you know!"

Matthew jumped from his brother's harsh tone of voice. He held his Fredbear plush closer to him again and squeezed it, trying to feel as protected and secure as possible. He could hear his heart beating and pulsing through his ears, and he felt himself almost hyperventilating from the fear he was fighting. The plush he held was now developing creases in the fabric from how tight Matthew was grasping it.

He looked around the corners of every room to check for his older brother, but Michael was still in the living room. Matthew went back to his room and quietly closed his door. He sat the Fredbear plush on his bed, and he sat next to it.

"He might as well lock me in again," Matthew whispered to it. "What else can I do?"

The Fredbear plush just sat there in silence.

"And where did my parents go? Why did they leave me with Michael? Does my mom and dad not care about me?"

Again, the plush never said anything.

"I just don't know what to do." Matthew still had tears going down his face. "My brother thinks he's the boss now with Mom and Dad gone."

He stood up from his bed and examined his entire room. His two bedroom doors were currently closed. Right by the left door was Matthew's dresser, standing against the one corner of his room and having toys stacked onto it. In the middle was his closet, which was currently open and showing what was inside of it. By the right door was no other furniture, but more toys were scattered across the floor in the other corner.

"Two bedroom doors," Matthew told himself. "Did my mom and dad think there would be more than one monster coming after me? But no such things exist, because I'm no baby anymore. I am better off with one door instead."

He looked back at the silent, inanimate plush.

"Michael says that I'm a baby," he told it. "I tell myself he's wrong."

Matthew, despite being called names, knew that he was an older kid and no longer at that age where kids believed in monsters lurking in the dark. He found stuff like that to be very childish, but the one fear he still had was, of course, Michael.

Matthew walked over to one of his piles of toys and noticed his other plush toys laying on the ground. He moved his fake phone toy out of the way, allowing the plushies to have some room. Matthew smiled at them, though he was nervous.

"These are my friends," he whispered.

He started to cry a second time, as he started to think negatively again.

"But they're my only friends."

* * *

"Teasing the little man again? Such a great thing to do!" Michael's best friend, Joshua, laughed. "You need to let him know that he's worthless! He's no man like us; he's a pussy."

"I never told him stuff like that," Michael replied. "I mostly call him names and what not, Joshua. Never mentioned to him how much of a joke he is, but I'll keep that comment in mind."

"Hey, random thing I gotta say, but just call me Josh; it's a much more simple name."

The two adult boys were sitting on top of Joshua's convertible, which was parked in a restaurant parking lot. They were both eating a couple sandwiches they ordered to eat outside of the restaurant, because they didn't want to sit down inside and wait longer for their food.

The convertible they were sitting on was an old car from the late 60s. Joshua's father used to own it himself, but he later handed it over to his son as a birthday gift. Joshua promised to look after it to make it last longer and pay off the monthly insurance bills coming through their mail. Ever since he made that promise, he never broke it.

It was a yellow two-door car with black painted stripes running across each side. The car had no roof, which meant that Joshua only had to drive it whenever there was no rainy day. A short, modified spoiler was installed on the top of the trunk. Some small rust spots made their way onto the car's sides and ruined some of the paint, but these were hardly noticeable. Overall, the car had been touched up ever since Joshua claimed ownership.

"So, what are you going to do about him?" Joshua asked after a short moment of silence.

"Sorry. What did you say, man?" Michael blinked a few times.

"I was asking what you're gonna do about him."

"Him?"

"Your little brother..."

Michael sighed and chuckled. "Oh, I am not completely sure. For now, I'm just going to continue to push him around; I mean, he deserves it."

"Do your parents know you do this to him?"

"Ha! My parents? They left us alone not too long ago for some reason. They can't see what I'm doing to Matthew; no parental supervision over us is awesome!"

Joshua hesitated after eating a bite of his food. "Maybe they went on vacation? Just wanted some time to themselves, perhaps?"

"It's a possibility," Michael answered, disconcerted. "I would think they'd tell me and Matthew, though. Well, does this topic matter anyways? I don't care if they're not at home with us."

"What if they were murdered?"

"Not possible!" He laughed at his best friend.

Joshua shrugged his shoulders. "Then, I don't know what to say, dude. You just have to live by yourself with Matthew."

"And that I don't mind. I'm of age, too, so I can look after him." Michael finished his sandwich. "The little man doesn't deserve to call for help, since he thinks I'm so 'rude' or 'mean' to him. I know I'm taking great care of him! He just doesn't see it!"

Joshua was about to reply, but he fell silent when a young woman approached his car. She had her brown hair up in a ponytail, which her hair was tied back with a barrette, and she was wearing a tucked t-shirt with light blue jeans. She also had plain white sneakers on.

"Well, hello there," he told the woman, in a seductive tone, as she was closer to them. "What can I help you with, Miss?"

The woman shyly smiled at Joshua. "I was just going to ask if any of you boys had some change."

"For what? I may have some." He reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Just a dollar."

Michael smirked at the conversation between Joshua and the woman, but he never said anything.

Joshua gave the woman some coins. "There you go. What are you going to buy?"

"I was going to get something from the vending machine," she told him. "Stupid thing won't take bills." She sighed at him. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding both of you."

"No, you're not. In fact, I'm glad you talked to us. Can I have your number, please? I'd like to get to know you."

Michael was about to laugh, but he held it in.

The woman stared at Joshua as if he was some creep. "Um, thank you, but I'm taken, but I'll just...go. Appreciate the...change, I guess."

As soon as she disappeared, Michael laughed at Joshua.

"You're never lucky with the ladies," he teased. "Once you offer to have their number, they always run from you. Luckily, my girlfriend wasn't scared of me."

"Shut up, Afton. I can't help it when I get excited over girls."

"Ouch," Michael said, still making fun of him. "You need to take things slow then."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "You're no help."

"You're right," Michael agreed sarcastically. "I'm not."

His best friend hopped down from his car. "Whatever, dude. I need to leave."

"Already?" Michael was shocked. "What's the rush?"

"I need to go to baseball practice, but I'll give you a ride home real quick if you need it."

"That would actually be great. Thanks, Josh." Michael smiled, jumped down from the car, and got inside once his friend unlocked it.


	2. Chapter 2

Michael stared over at Joshua as he continued to drive him to his house. The 19-year-old, holding his fox mask, never looked away from his best friend, as he was secretly wondering where Joshua's bunny mask was. Michael sighed quietly to himself and glanced back out the passenger side.

"You alright, man?" Joshua asked, taking a second to take his eyes off the road and get a glimpse of Michael. "I don't think you're looking good there. You seem a bit nervous."

Michael laughed, realizing his friend noticed how he felt. "It's nothing, honestly."

"By 'nothing,' I'm sure you mean that something is up." Joshua looked away from the road another time. "That 'nothing' stuff doesn't fool me, Michael--you know that."

Michael looked back over at him. "Well, first of all, where is your mask?"

"My...what?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Joshua chuckled as soon as he knew what Michael was talking about. "Wait, my Bonnie mask? I don't carry it everywhere with me; I normally leave it at home. You have your mask with you now? Why?"

"Why not? I think I look scary when I wear it. Funny to see kids run off when I spook them with it on." Michael held his fox mask in his lap and smiled at it. "Sorry, but scaring kids is my thing; it's hilarious to see their reactions."

"Oh, Michael," Joshua giggled. "It's not Halloween, so why do such a thing as if it was that kind of day?"

"I just told you, Josh," Michael replied. "I like to see their reactions. Nothing wrong with having a little fun like that with kids."

"You do the same to Matthew."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Just shut the hell up about him, alright? I don't need to be thinking about the little man right now."

"Well, what's the matter with you?" Joshua knew that Michael was agitated for some reason.

"I don't know. I think I'm tired from teasing my brother all day today."

Joshua shook his head at him. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else." Michael placed the mask over his head. "I'm not lying, I swear. I'm just tired. I need to sleep sometime soon."

"Yeah, okay." His friend nodded once, suspicious of his possible lies. "We're like close brothers, though. If you need anything, you could just call me. I'm available whenever I don't have practice, and that is in the mornings and early afternoons."

Michael only responded by staring out the passenger side again.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two young adults, but Michael tried to break it by letting out a fake cough, or trying to clear his throat as a result from the false hacking sound he made. The noises he created caused Joshua to peek at him multiple times and give him awkward looks at him. Michael, after a few times of making random sounds, fell silent and took off his fox mask, eventually setting it on the ground of the car by his feet. 

Michael used his feet to hold it between his legs. The breeze from riding in Joshua's convertible was strong enough to blow away the mask if he never forced it to stay in place. Despite appearing heavy, the mask was as light as paper, and, like if Michael was holding a sheet of it, a gust of wind could easily move the mask around if it wasn't being held in place. He paid only a dollar for the mask, but although it was cheap, he always held onto it as if it was a real valuable possession. No matter the craziest ways he could lose it, he didn't want one of those accidental incidents to happen right now.

He noticed the fox mask was moving more, but this was from some of the bumps in the road that Joshua was driving on. Michael held it in place even tighter, and this time, it was really staying. He sighed a breath of relief and laid back against the passenger seat.

Realizing he was about to fall asleep from laying back against the head restraint, Michael forced himself to stay awake. He quickly opened his eyes and rubbed them, also blinking a few times to make himself feel less exhausted. Like he said to Joshua, he was tired from bullying Matthew all day and really needed a rest. However, Michael never wanted to sleep, as he feared his little brother would run off somewhere and tell someone about what Michael does to humiliate him; Michael would be humiliated himself if this were to happen.

He felt his legs relaxing and loosening up, allowing his mask to be more exposed to the wind. Michael quietly gasped and went back to holding the extremely light fox mask between his feet. Right now, he was too lazy to physically hold it in his arms or hands.

Michael looked over at Joshua and noticed his best friend was too focused on the road instead of him. He smiled to himself, happy that Joshua was not seeing what he was doing. If Joshua had seen him, Michael would be asked, "What are you doing, dude? Are you okay there?"

Michael was already too tired to even talk.

He gripped the mask more securely between his feet, and then he allowed himself to lean back against the head restraint another time. This time, Michael made sure he never went off in a deep sleep. He laid back again and closed his eyes halfway, letting himself feel the nice breeze as Joshua kept on driving. 

Michael began to think about his little brother, although he never actually wanted to think about Matthew right now. The thought of the older mean brother teasing the "little man" was something that normally made him smile, and normally made him laugh, but Michael shook his head, trying to get the mental picture of his little sibling out of his head. 

He typically enjoyed thinking about new methods to embarrass and terrorize Matthew, but as of now, that wasn't something he was worried about. Michael was exhausted from another day of making Matthew cry, but also, Michael wanted to stay awake in case his little brother ran off somewhere.

Joshua glanced over at Michael, still wondering what was up with him. His best friend, whom was just a year younger than him, sighed at him, curious about what was on Michael's mind. 

Joshua also liked the idea of humiliating Matthew for that power Michael seeks for, but the best friend had a touch of how cautious he was. He, like Michael, doesn't care about Matthew, but he thinks Michael's bullying methods can be too far. Joshua was more about calling kids hurtful names, not turning towards physical methods, as he thought that was too much. Michael, unlike him, was the opposite, although he tends to verbally abuse others, too.

Joshua always thought that Michael can be too powerful.

"Dude, you okay?" Joshua had his eyes on the road, but he looked back real quick to check on Michael. "I mean, if you're really that tired, we're almost to your house."

As soon as Michael heard that voice, he jumped. 

"Oh, I didn't mean to startle you."

Michael sighed. "It's okay, Josh. I did get lost in my own world, and you did break that, but I'm not mad."

"You sure?" his slightly paranoid best friend asked him. "I know you when you're tired, Michael. I don't want you to be going off nonstop on me. Are you positive you're not angry with what I just did? No matter if you are or not, I'm sorry."

Michael opened his eyes fully and took his head off the restraint. "I'm really sure, man. Don't you fret."

Joshua shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."

After a short minute of driving, Joshua pulled the black and yellow convertible up by Michael's house. Michael took a moment to examine his and Matthew's house, seeing if his little brother was peering out any of the windows.

The house they lived in was in a more isolated area away from the other nearby homes. It was white, but almost looking like a light gray color, and appeared extremely small on the outside, as if it was a place for one person to live. There was much more space, and there were also way more rooms on the inside, though, despite its small looking design on the exterior. 

Michael, after taking a short glimpse at the house, grabbed his mask, opened the car door, and stepped out. He smiled tiredly at his friend.

"Thanks for the ride!" he told him, his voice raised higher. "Good luck at your practice!"

"Anytime, Michael!" Joshua hollered over the loud car engine. "Is it okay if I call you after I'm done?"

Michael nodded at him in response.

"Alright, cool!" Joshua pulled the manual lever in his car to make it drive. "See you soon!"

Michael only waved at him.

He kept his eyes on Joshua's car before he went up to the front door of his house. He slowly crept onto the small, worn down patio, and he slipped on his fox mask, ready to scare Matthew. Sure Michael was tired, but he didn't want Matthew to run off somewhere that would get his older brother into trouble. Michael sighed, adjusting the fox mask on his head, and snuck into the quiet, unlit house.

While trying to make his presence in the house not that obvious, he searched for signs if Matthew may have left the house. Michael never wanted to immediately go to Matthew's room, surprise him, and actually find no one there; he thought he would look like a fool if he did that.

Michael looked over at the television in the living room. It had been left on--with an advertisement called Fredbear and Friends 1983 currently playing--but originally before he left to meet Joshua, it was not; this told Michael that Matthew was probably in the living room and ran to his bedroom once Michael was coming towards the house. 

He also looked around for signs of his little brother's Fredbear plush or his other animal plushies. Michael didn't see anything, but he had a strong feeling that Matthew was hiding somewhere in the house.

The little man ain't smart, Michael thought to himself. Where would a child like him go if they think they need to be a tattletale? If he's not sure where to go to bitch like a little baby, I'm positive he is home.

Michael smiled to himself, agreeing with his thoughts, and he adjusted his mask one last time. 

He quietly snuck over the TV to turn it off. Michael placed his hand on one of the television's dials and switched it to the "off" setting. The TV, followed by a quick static noise, shut off as soon as the dial hit that exact setting.

Stupid TV, Michael thought. Why must it be so loud? Now, I bet that Matthew knows I'm here just by switching off the TV. Don't care, though. He doesn't need to be wasting electricity.

Michael stayed put and listened for a bit, seeing if Matthew possibly heard him turn off the television. He noticed his heart was beating extremely fast, due to the fear that he may get caught before he could have the chance to scare Matthew. Michael wanted to surprise his younger sibling, just enough to make the little boy scream and cry more. He loved the sound of his brother in distress, and he wanted to make this moment perfect, again, to have that opportunity to listen to his upsetting cries of terror.

Michael snuck towards Matthew's room and peeked around the corner. To his surprise, his brother was sitting on his own bed, legs crossed and hands buried in his face. Matthew was sobbing into his hands, also shaking from the effects of Michael's harsh actions and words that were affecting him. The scared boy took his Fredbear plush and tightly held it against his chest. He cried more and whispered some words that Michael could not hear.

The older brother smiled, ready to give Matthew a surprise. He quickly thought about what to do to frighten him even more. After just a couple of seconds, Michael grinned bigger as soon as he came up with a method to bully his brother.

Michael ran into Matthew's bedroom, and Matthew screamed once right when he spotted his mean brother. He tried to escape, but Michael grabbed ahold of his arm before he could have the chance to run. Matthew winced and attempted to break free from his brother's grip, but he couldn't; Michael was roughly holding onto him. The masked brother let out a loud laugh.

"Oh, Matthew. You thought you could somehow avoid me, huh?" he asked and grasped Matthew's arm even tighter. "Listen, you little man! Our parents aren't here, so you have no one to cry and fucking tattletale to! I've told you once, and I'll say it again; I'm the boss here! If you tell anyone about me, you'll be sorry!"

Michael chuckled and threw Matthew back on his bed. The terrified little child backed up on the bed and clasped his arms around his legs, hiding Michael from his sight. 

Laughing again, Michael grabbed both of Matthew's hands and threw him off the bed. While being tossed around that time, Matthew lost balance and fell back in his pile of toys near his closet. He closed his eyes, trying to recover from the pain he experienced when falling on toys made out of hard materials. He eventually cried more from his pain, which he only felt on his middle back. 

Michael crossed his arms. "Can't fight back now? Shows how much of a wimp you can be!"

Matthew slowly stood up from his short time laying in the pile of his toys. "I...I am not a...wimp."

"I hate to say it, but I think you're lying to yourself, little man. No one will tolerate any kid like you who talks like that." The older brother punched Matthew in the face. "Just accept that no one, not even me, likes you. You're such a joke to everyone."

From being punched in his face, Matthew let out a shriek and fell back again, but near his pile of toys. He curled up in a fetal position and, in defensive, held up his hands in the air, begging Michael to leave him be. 

Michael let out another laugh and left the bedroom.

Matthew lowered his hands down to the ground. He then started to feel something trickling down his face, and once he placed a hand in the area he felt it in, he took it off his face. Matthew's hand shook as he saw something red on the tips of his fingers--blood. Not having anything around to wipe it off with, he sighed and brushed the blood off on his pants. Matthew proceeded to lay there, letting Michael's words enter his mind.

"Maybe he is right," Matthew said to himself. "Maybe I am just a joke."


	3. Chapter 3

After another day of teasing his little brother, Michael sat on the worn out porch in front of his house, tired from the bullying he caused. He created so much terror and distress to Matthew that the little boy ended up crying himself to sleep for the morning. Despite not liking the idea, Michael decided to leave him be for a few hours to let him get some sleeping time in. He was sure that Matthew was as tired as he was, but he soon thought that poor Matthew was more exhausted from all the stress and fear he was experiencing. 

Michael shook his head to the thought of Matthew and laughed. The heartless, mean brother never cared about how Matthew felt from his older sibling’s actions--never. He never cared one bit. Michael smiled in pride as soon he imagined himself pushing Matthew around and calling him more names; this led Michael to come up with other new methods of how to humiliate Matthew.

Michael even realized what he was always doing to Matthew in terms of cruel behavior; his ways of bullying have become a lot more abusive and controlling. These moments between the two brothers turned from simple name calling and shoving each other around, to more threatening names and more violent physical actions. Michael felt as if he got away with all of these things, and he was happy that Matthew could not turn towards anyone to talk to with their parents gone. The more he showed Matthew he was powerful, the more weak that Matthew got.

Michael noticed a small pebble hiding between one of the porch’s cracks, laying right on the top. He took his thumb and pointer finger to take the pebble out, and once he grabbed it, he threw it a few feet across the yard. It eventually reached the road and almost hit a passing car. Michael kept his eye on where the pebble landed and sighed of boredom.

He started to look down at the ground for a bit, but he later heard a familiar voice, making him raise his head to find the source of the voice.

A blonde, young woman--looking about Michael’s age--was wearing a peach-colored, baggy long sleeve shirt with tight, dark blue jeans, and she was walking towards the house. She was barefoot once she started to walk through the front yard, and she grasped her slip-on shoes in her right hand. The woman had her hair in the style of a pixie cut, and her very short hair revealed circular gold earrings pierced in both ears.

“Michael,” she greeted, smiling at him. “I’ve heard your mom and dad weren’t home. Hm, where did they go?”

Michael laughed once. “I’m not sure, Grace, but they just left us. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was some vacation they wanted to take, like they just wanted to go somewhere to have alone time and not tell us...wait, that just sounds…” 

Grace giggled at him. “I know what you were going to say.” She walked more towards Michael and grabbed both of his hands. “Reminds me of something special we should try sometime.”

Michael watched as she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He chuckled at her and sighed, tired.

“Something wrong, babe?” Grace kept her hands in his and sat beside him. “You look a bit...pale. I hope you’re not sick.”

“I’m not,” he replied. “I don’t even feel sick. Just a bit tired--that’s all.”

She let go of one hand and still had her other holding onto his left one. Grace stared at him for a moment, wondering if something was truly wrong with him. She could tell that he was tired of something, but she didn’t know what that “something” was.

Grace didn’t want to bother him, and not knowing what to do next, she remained silent for a moment.

“I don’t know, Grace,” Michael said, breaking the silence. “The little man has me exhausted. I just think he’s a hassle to look after and care for.”

He never mentioned what he truly does to Matthew, as he knew this would lead to Grace wanting to immediately end their relationship.

“Well, you know that kids can be kids,” she laughed and held his hand tighter, but not enough to constrict it. “If you’re really that tired of him, I can be a babysitter for the day and night.”

“Do I have to pay you?” Michael asked foolishly. 

Grace smiled and shook her head. “Would you have to pay your own girlfriend? Of course not! What kind of a question is that?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, Gracie. I’m just out of it.”

She grinned bigger at him, appreciating the nickname he gave her. “It’s okay, Michael. How about we go inside your house and sit on the living room couch together, or go and lay on your bed--nothing more than that, really?”

“Inside? I wanted to stay out here, if you don’t mind. There’s nothing to do inside anyways.”

“I’m sure there’s at least one thing to do. Let me ask: what do you normally do over the summer, aside of hanging out with friends?”

He shrugged his shoulders at Grace and took his hand out of hers. “I don’t really do a lot of stuff. Talking to my friends is one thing, but I’m not completely sure about what else I do. Sometimes, I visit Joshua at his sporting events, but that is only if I have the time to attend.”

Grace sat in silence for a few seconds, trying to think of something.

“There is one thing my dad and I did a couple years ago,” she told him. “This may be boring to you, but have you ever went through your garage? I remember doing that, and there was a lot of things that my dad and I forgot about. One item I found was a toy from my childhood that I had stored away in an old container. I still keep it because it was something I possessed.”

“I think I remember you talking about that. What was it again?”

Grace giggled. “You don’t remember what it was? I’ve told you about it many times!”

“I am sorry. I’m just…” Michael buried his face in his hands. “...I’m really tired…”

She took her right hand and placed it on his back, slowly and carefully rubbing her hand on it for several seconds to lessen some of the stress that Michael was experiencing. 

“You’re fine,” Grace assured him, soon taking her hand off his back. “I apologize for asking you.”

Michael looked back up and revealed his exhausted, reddened face. “Well, what was that thing you found from your childhood? Just...please tell me.”

She placed her hand back into his. “It was a doll my mother kept in her own childhood. I recall that my grandparents bought it for her when she was only two, and she always told me that the doll kept her safe. She’d always bring it with her to bed and cuddle next to it every night. All I’m gonna say is that she was born in a rough time period, and she was scared every day, every night, every month, and all the way up until the mid 40s when the terror was finally over.”

Michael nodded, listening carefully to her story, but he remained silent.

“When my mother reached into adulthood and was about to go off to college, she figured she would save the doll for her future child,” Grace continued. “She hoped for a daughter, and when that time came, she was right. I’m probably going to do the same thing; I might keep it for our future kid.”

He chuckled nervously at her. “What if we have a boy?”

“Well, it’ll be his choice if he wants it or not. I’m not going to force him to play with it if he doesn’t want to.” Grace glanced around for a bit. “I know you probably aren’t, too, but I’m not ready for that stuff yet. If we last for a few years together, then we could figure out a family.”

“If?” Michael stared at her.

She sighed. “Not that you’d be one of those guys, but I always heard about girls at school ending their relationships with guys early, like at least a month after they got together. I just don’t want that to happen to us at all, because I’m scared you’ll do something that may make us break up.”

Michael anxiously scratched the back of his head, thinking about what he already does to his own brother. “Why be fearful of that? I’m not going to do something stupid that you’ll leave me for or anything, and I hope you won’t either. We stay loyal to each other, we have a future, Grace.”

Grace let go of his hand again and folded both of her hands in her lap. “I understand that. I really do want to commit to a healthy relationship.”

He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her on her cheek. “So do I.”

* * *

Later, the two were going through the garage, as what Grace suggested them to do. Michael, at first, was a bit bored from the thought of snooping through items that he possibly forgot about. So far, he never found anything interesting, and he was secretly, yet silently, complaining about how tiring this moment was.

Michael has only found some belongings from his parents’ childhood lives. He came across some valuable decorations his and Matthew’s mom owned, with one of them being a delicate flower vase. Michael examined some of these items and held them tightly in his hands, so he wouldn’t accidentally drop them and break them. 

Whenever Grace looked away, Michael snuck a grin across his face when thinking about being reckless with these fragile objects. He knew that his parents weren’t home, and with him in charge, he felt as if he could do whatever he wanted. Michael saw this as an opportunity to break his parents’ things when he is alone, and if his parents ever come back--that is, if they do--he’d put the blame on Matthew.

Michael removed his smile from his face once Grace turned back in his direction. He was holding a clear glass plate that was stored in a box labeled, “Kitchen,” but despite it being in that box, his parents never placed this very plate in that room. Either they have forgotten about it, or they did not want it anymore.

He pretended to be interested in the dish by smiling again and rotating it in his hands as he grasped it tightly. Michael, really, wasn’t fascinated by the dish, and he saw it as a tool to get Matthew in trouble. After a moment, he carefully put the plate back in its box.

Grace went through one box, but before grabbing something, she stopped and looked back at her boyfriend.

“Are you sure your parents are okay with this?” she asked. “I wasn’t allowed to go through my mother’s and father’s things unless I had permission.”

Michael nodded his head at her. “I am sure that they are okay with what we’re doing.”

Grace watched as he looked away at her, and she went back to going through the one box she had ahold of. 

She reached down towards the bottom of the nearly empty box, and her hand met with something that felt soft, but it wasn’t as soft as fur or anything like it. The item also had a rubbery feel to it, though it never was made with the actual material. She gripped the edge of one side of the object and did the same with the other hand. As she was pulling it out, she smiled at it. 

“Why haven’t you hung this up somewhere?” Grace cautiously took the rest of it out, her arms wide open from holding it. “Show your pride!”

She was holding what was an old and tattered version of the American flag. Some of the edges by its 13 stripes were now torn strips from it being damaged or ripped somehow. While the area by the blue rectangle and the 50 stars in it was fine, the rest was not in the best condition.

“Why would we hang it?” Michael shook his head. “That thing is not in the best shape!” He paused for a moment. “Is it even legal to hang it looking like that?”

Grace shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. You could call the local police station and see if it’s okay in this state.”

“Please put it away for now. I’m not sure, and I don’t feel like calling the police station just for a flag.” 

She carefully folded the flag up. “If you say so.”

Michael went through more boxes, but he never saw anything interesting still. He sighed of boredom and walked over to Grace, where she was facing away from him as was observing another object.

“I’m sorry, but I’m getting more tired,” he said and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Like you mentioned earlier, can we go inside my house? It’s getting kind of hot out here.”

Grace noticed him kissing her neck a couple of times, and she flinched, not expecting that kind of surprise. She eventually relaxed and let him kiss her a few times more. The feeling of her being secured in Michael’s arms made Grace enjoy his presence around her.

“You okay with that?” Michael moved his hands from Grace’s waist to her shoulders. 

She looked back at him. “It’s only been five minutes. Bored so soon, Mikey?”

He sighed. “Listen, you don’t mind me calling you ‘Gracie,’ but that nickname...please don’t call me that.”

“Can I call you ‘Mike’ for short then?”

Michael hesitated for a moment. “That’s a better name, I think. You can if you want to.”

Grace smiled at him. “Alright then, Mike.”

He laughed at her. “Anyways, yes, I’m bored. I’m sorry to stop so soon, but the heat out here is just insane. If it was cooler, I would stay out here longer.”

“Yeah, it is a bit hot.” She took his hands off her. “Do you want to stop for good or come back later?”

“I want to stop for good.” He placed his hands on his hips. “Now, it’s my house here. While you get settled, I’ll make something cold for us to eat or drink. I’m going to see if we have ice cream or something, and if we don’t, I’ll just get some cold water for us.”

“Ice cream? I just picked some up from a drive-in eating place more than an hour ago. Thanks for the offer, though, sweetie.”

Michael moved the boxes out of the way, just so he could be able to walk through the garage. He was careful trying to place boxes with fragile items away from him without attempting to break them. He may have been interested in watching them actually shatter, so he could blame Matthew on the incident. 

Michael quickly walked towards the front of the house and opened the door. Before he went in, he peeked back at the garage to see Grace still going through some boxes. She wasn’t looking at him; she was facing the other direction as she rummaged through some items that appeared enthralling to her. For every easily breakable thing she came across, she carefully placed it aside while she’d examine the less delicate stuff.

He took one last look at her, and he soon entered his house.

Michael went into the living room and noticed Matthew sitting on the couch. He was watching some TV and also was huddling up in a blanket. As soon as the front door slammed shut, he spotted his older brother and pulled the blanket over his head, hiding himself from Michael.

“Why so scared, little man?” Michael asked. “I’m not going to do anything to you now, but I’ll at least say that your entire life is still a joke.”

Matthew remained hidden under the blanket.

“Ha, whatever. Be a pussy then.” Michael chuckled at his brother’s frailty and walked away from the living room.

He went towards the kitchen and, not checking for other kinds of cold food, grabbed two cups out of the cupboard. He ran some cold water in both of the cups, and once both were full, he grabbed a third cup, filling that one up as well.

Michael took the cup he last filled up and walked quickly back into the living room. He stood in front of Matthew, who was still hiding, and sighed heavily at him.

“Haven’t seen you drink anything in a day,” Michael told him and shoved the cup in front of his face. “Drink it, you baby! If you don’t...oh, don’t make me force you like you’re some helpless toddler.”

Matthew shyly removed a small part of the blanket from over his head and looked up at Michael. He, with shaking hands, snatched it from his brother and went back to hide under the blanket.

Michael rolled his eyes and left his brother alone. He went back into the kitchen to grab the cups of water for him and Grace.

Originally, he was going to take the third cup he filled up and dump it all over Matthew, but he felt as if his little brother needed a little bit of something to consume; he just simply gave the cup to him instead. Michael still never appreciated giving his brother something, but he thought that it had to be done.

He gripped the two cups in his hand and stopped by the living room to look at Matthew one last time. Michael shook his head, smiling, and left to go back into the garage with Grace.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Grace had traveled downtown to meet up with some friends. After hanging out with Michael, she had trouble sleeping the night before, and with that, she wanted to talk to some of her closest friends to get some things off her chest. She had some suspicions about Michael and how he behaved when he was speaking with her the day before, but Grace wasn't sure if she was crazy or not.

She was traveling towards the downtown area in her mom's car. Grace had no money to buy her own, but despite her own financial problems, she always told her mom that she doesn't want to permanently take control of her parents' vehicles. She always thought that they never believed she'll get her own money for a while, but she denied any statement her parents said regarding "not being able to get a job in at least a year."

As she was driving the main road in town, Grace tried to remember the meeting spot her friends wanted to meet her at. She knew that she had to go to the downtown area, but with everything on her mind, Grace suddenly forgot. She wanted to stop and think, but she was too focused on the road. Grace shook her head, completely shaking off the thought of stressing herself out just to remember something, and continued to drive towards downtown.

Grace turned the newly built, four-door sedan in a nearby parking spot. She looked off to the side, finding herself across the street from the famous Fredbear's Family Diner, and once she laid her eyes on the sign, she sighed to herself.

"Why must I have a terrible memory?" Grace asked herself and buried her face in her hands. "I never seem to remember even the smallest things."

She uncovered her face and peeked back over to where the diner stood, trying to figure out if she wanted to meet here or at another place. Eventually, as she focused on the famous diner instead of thinking about the meeting location, Grace carefully watched as happy families entered or exited the building. She smiled at the sight of some excited children jumping as they held their parent's hand.

Grace's smile vanished as soon as she looked back in front of her, struggling to recover what she was thinking about before she got distracted. She placed both of her hands on the wheel and thought deeply about the various, popular places around town where lots of people like to gather at, but nothing came to her.

She lowered her head, and her forehead landed on the top of the car's steering wheel. She wished that she would remember where her friends wanted to meet her to talk to her, but Grace's thought of that was completely gone, and she had given up on thinking. 

Grace raised her head back up and felt the frustration coming in.

"Shit!" she yelled and pounded one of her hands on the wheel in anger. "I always mess things up! I always do!"

Moments like these were not new for Grace. She has dealt with other situations where she has not been able to pay attention to something, or she has forgotten something in a matter of a minute or less, only to focus on another thing. She didn't know what was wrong, but she was aware of these "episodes," and Grace did not tolerate them whatsoever. She couldn't help it, though; they just occurred out of nowhere. 

Grace leaned back in the driver's seat and sighed, disappointed and stressed from her forgetfulness. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she needed to go, but she also never let her poor memory get to her. Once she had a bit of an idea on where to drive to, Grace quickly reached for a pen, hidden away in one of the cup holders next to her, and wrote down the location on her arm.

"Well, I'm lucky I have this," she told herself. "I would've been in trouble if I never had any tool I could use to write with."

She peeked at her arm for a bit, seeing where she needed to go, and Grace started the car, heading towards the name of the place she wrote, just in case she ever lost the name again.

* * *

Matthew was laying in bed that same late morning, his face pointed up to the ceiling and his arms on top of his stomach. He had all of his plushies next to him, and they were all sitting upright, staring at him blankly. He turned his head towards them and slightly smiled, still nervous from what his older brother did to him.

"My brother did something nice yesterday," Matthew said to them. "He gave me some water."

The plushies just sat there silently.

"I don't know what to think. Michael never has done anything like that for me. I know he still insults me and thinks I'm not worth it. Why is he nice sometimes?"

His inanimate friends never said a word.

"Do I trust him? Michael has done some kind things, but I know he's mean. He's a bully. He curses at me. He just doesn't like me. No, I don't trust him."

One plushie--a Foxy plushie--fell over, and its face hit the top of Matthew's shoulder.

Matthew corrected the plushie and stood it back up, laughing. "Oh, you clumsy fox. What are you doing?"

The Foxy plush remained silent.

"There you go, Foxy. I fixed you."

The plushie continued to sit there, not doing anything at all, but it eventually toppled back over a second time. It landed on Matthew's shoulder again, but he never fixed it.

"Sorry, Foxy, but I can't keep you from falling over." His smile faded. "You can act like you're biting me all you want. I don't care now; I am just tired from my brother. I don't want to keep fixing you so that you're sitting perfectly still."

Matthew proceeded to lay there for the rest of the morning. Meanwhile, he felt his stomach hurt from hunger, but from all the stress of his brother, he never wanted to leave his room to get food. It was at that point where he craved food, but he could also ignore the need to eat.

He flipped over to his side, trying to get the pain to go away. As he was holding onto his stomach, Matthew tried to remember when he last ate. He realized that it has been almost two days since he ate some of his leftovers from his one visit at Fredbear's. He disregarded his food cravings, as he learned somewhere that people can live longer on water than food, and with that, Matthew still laid there, happy that he heard such a fact.

He took his most favorite plushie, the Fredbear one, and cuddled with it, his arms securely wrapped around the plush. Matthew looked around his room and stared at the other toys scattered across his floor, feeling unmotivated to be a typical child and have fun with all of the toys. 

Matthew seemed to only like his plushies, as he felt more safe and happy with them around. He treated them as if they were real human friends; if something were to happen to them, he would be completely lonely.

He felt the pain in his stomach gradually disappearing. He flipped himself over on his back again and snuggled with the Fredbear plush still in his arms. Matthew sighed to himself, and he noticed he was almost falling asleep.

Matthew's short, peaceful moment was suddenly interrupted by Michael running into his room. The older sibling forcefully opened the unlocked door as he quickly made his way into the bedroom. Michael stopped as soon as he was by the foot of his little brother's bed.

As his brother ran in, Matthew jerked up and moved towards the other end of the bed. He, in fear, threw three plushies at his brother, but Michael never reacted in a way.

"What's your problem, little man?" he asked, confused. "Don't you know that I'm giving you a damn break?"

Matthew still feared that his brother would do something to him.

"Pick these pathetic things up, will you?" Michael pointed at the floor. "Thanks to your immature self trying to avoid me, some are off the bed. Dude, how unorganized and trashy must you be?"

Matthew stayed huddled up in silence, not sure what to do. He gripped the Fredbear plushie tightly in his arms.

"I'm serious, man! It seems as if you can't do the simplest things!"

The little boy uncovered his face, still terrified of his brother. "I-I will pick...them up...soon."

"Soon?" Michael raised his voice. "How about now?" 

Matthew nervously nodded in response.

Michael crossed his arms, frustrated. "Mom and Dad leave, and all you do is break the rules? That's the clear definition of a disobedient kid! Oh, I think they'll be angry with you if I tell them how you're acting. Would you like that?"

"I'm not..." Matthew paused for a moment. "Y-You're making me scared. You're just...mean to me."

"Hush up, you baby! Save your excuses for when our parents come home! Excuses won't work for me!" Michael threw the Chica plushie at his little brother. "There is one of them, but I'm not getting the rest."

"I'll...I'll pick them up! Just leave me be!" Matthew tried his hardest not to cry. 

Michael only laughed at him and left the room, leaving Matthew by himself again.

The distressed child shakily picked up the rest of his plushies that he threw at his brother in defense. Matthew thought that he overreacted when he took the Chica, Bonnie, and Freddy plushies and tried to hit Michael with them, but somehow, fighting back also felt right to him.

* * *

Grace parked the car in front of a local antique mall a few blocks down from Fredbear's Family Diner. She remembered what type of place her two friends wanted to meet her at, and she tried to think of the most famous building of that exact type that many people enjoy going to; she figured her friends would be at that kind of place.

She exited the car and saw her friends, Lauren and Amber, sitting outside of the mall on a painted bench. The two never saw Grace right away, as they were busy talking about typical girl things. As they were communicating with each other, they were also drinking out of plastic coffee cups, but Grace couldn't tell what they were exactly drinking.

She closed the door of the car, and the sound drew both of the girls' attentions. They smiled at their friend, and Lauren, taking a sip of her drink, waved at Grace.

"Got lost?" Amber asked, standing up and hugging her. "We've been here for 15 minutes."

"Sorry, I...I just lost track on where to go," Grace replied. "I should've called you, but I never had my telephone with me. I tend to not take it with me, because I normally use it as the home phone."

Lauren swallowed a bit of her drink. "Why don't you take it with? I get a lot of the telephones today are too bulky to carry around, but it's nice to have something with you in case you need to talk to someone."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Grace, despite being friends with the two girls since seventh grade, never told them about her suspected memory problems. "If I'll meet with you again, I won't forget."

"Why are you sorry? I'm not mad that you were late to meet us; unless if we were waiting for hours, then I'd be a bit concerned."

Grace only stared down at the ground in embarrassment.

Amber placed her hand on Grace's shoulder. "You want a drink? I'll buy you some coffee or something."

"No, but thanks." She looked back up and sighed. "I already drank this morning."

Grace walked with Amber over to where Lauren was sitting, and the two girls sat down. Lauren moved over to make room for them, and both of them sat on the left side. Grace found herself sitting in the middle--in between her two friends.

"You said you had something on your mind?" Amber asked and took another sip of her drink, her straw making loud noises from how empty the cup was getting. "Was it something about Michael, your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, it's about him," Grace told her. "You two have any advice?"

"Well, what's going on with him? We can't give advice if we don't know what is up with Michael." Her cup's straw created more sounds. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know my cup was no longer full."

"Michael is just acting strange. I was hanging out with him yesterday, and he's been a bit distant; he would constantly make excuses to go somewhere else, like in his house, when we were relaxing together outside. I don't get what is wrong, but he's been like this ever since his and his little brother's parents left--I guess for a vacation."

Lauren peeked over at Grace, trying to figure out what to say. "He's distant, huh? You say he makes excuses to get away from you and have time by himself?"

"Basically."

"I highly think something is on his mind," Amber said. "If he's doing that stuff constantly, but making it obvious, he's not trying enough to hide it. Be happy you can see it, though, because..."

Lauren cut her off. "Um, so Grace, what kind of excuses does he make?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Michael mostly says he has to go get something, but typically comes back to me with nothing. It seems like every time we hang out, he leaves me alone a few times. It's weird, too, that he would hardly bring up his little brother; I mean, I'd like hearing a bit about Matthew, but I guess I have to talk to the little guy myself."

"In that case, I'd go up to Michael one day and tell him you want to talk to Matthew. Also, in the meantime, try and figure out what is on Michael's mind. Watch his body language and everything. If he looks more jumpy or nervous than usual, that obviously means that something is up."

"Is that all you have for me?"

"It's all I could say right now, Grace." Lauren smiles at her. "I hope you're able to catch him in the act of showing those signs. It's best to know what's going on with him."

Grace looked away from the two girls for a moment. "What if he doesn't tell me? I don't want to pressure him."

Amber patted her back. "You're right; you do not need to pressure him into telling you something. Forcing him is going to agitate him."

"Not just agitating him, but it'll cause more tension in your relationship," Lauren added. "Your best option is to let him be, if he doesn't want to tell you, and allow him some time. I don't recommend that you keep bringing it up later, even if you give him a little bit to not mention it, because that will just cause him to keep stressing about telling you."

"Is that really the right thing to do?" Grace asked and hesitated. "Oh, now that I imagine it, I can see him yelling at me if I keep asking what's on his mind. Great advice, Lauren."

Amber stood up from the bench and threw away her cup in a trash bin. "Grace, it's common sense. Not trying to be a bitch here, but shouldn't you know that already?"

Grace stayed silent, not answering right away. "How am I supposed to answer that?"

"Hate to break it to you, Amber, but yes, you sound like you're rude right now." Lauren moved herself towards Grace. "Leave her alone with those kind of questions, alright?"

Amber only shrugged a shoulder at them. "Sorry, that's my fault."

"Well, I apologize if I'm causing trouble. I'll go, if that's what you two want." Grace stood up from the bench and walked towards the car. "Seems like I'm creating a fight."

Lauren glanced over at her. "If you want to leave, you can, but you're not causing anything."

Grace opened the front door. "My parents probably want me back. I have to work in a couple hours."

"Wait, you work?" Amber leaned against the garbage bin. "Where?"

"Crap. I never told you guys?" Grace cracked the car door shut. "Sounds like a boring job, but I clean up around each room at that downtown diner. I get paid less than the other employees, but for being a graduated high school student, I'm making decent money."

Lauren also stood up. "You mean Fredbear's? That place is busy a lot."

"Yeah, why do you think when someone mentions a diner, most people think of Fredbear's? That place is very well-known."

"So, you clean? That's all you do? How much do you make?"

"My starting pay was three an hour." Grace opened the door back up. "I think it's now just a bit over that--almost four now."

Lauren nodded her head. "Not bad."

Grace pointed at the car. "I need to go, like...now. I hope you didn't mind talking for a couple minutes. It's not a long time, but it's some time."

"Amber and I were in town anyways; we're just going to shops to look at stuff. Don't worry about not spending some time with us. Look, at least you cans to get something off your mind; that's what friends do." Lauren walked besides the sedan and placed her hand on it. "If you have time after work, you can call us."

"I work from noon until eight tonight. I may be able to call you, just by thinking about the time." Grace sat in the driver's seat and started up the car. "Sorry for the rush, Lauren, but I gotta leave. I didn't realize what time it was either."

"Yeah, just go!" Lauren exclaimed. 

Grace smiled at her friends and closed the car door, eventually driving away from the two girls.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphic details at the end. Just a warning.

It was the next day when Grace was about to meet up with Michael to talk to him. Over a short period of time, she wanted to give herself a bit of a break before she attempted to talk to her boyfriend. She knew that something was up, and she suspected that Matthew is a part of Michael's weird behavior, but she's not blaming the little boy.

Grace was sitting outside that following night. It was almost midnight, but despite the odd time to be awake and plan on talking to someone, Michael was normally up around this time. Grace held a cigarette in between her fingers, putting an end up to her mouth and blowing out smoke once she took it off her mouth. She kept thinking about how strange and nervous Michael was acting, and she tried figuring out what his exact problem was.

She took another puff of her cigarette, feeling herself relax from all the stress of thinking about her boyfriend. 

Grace was never addicted to smoking, but she did it at least a couple times a week to calm herself down. Of course, with her being up at night, her parents never knew she smoked, but if they found out, they would most likely ban her from driving, as she'd most likely travel to a store to get them. They may also take away some of her personal belongings temporarily. To avoid being caught, Grace always snuck out in front of the house at night to let herself take some time alone.

She lowered her cigarette towards the ground and tapped it, removing some leftover ashes that were hanging out on it. Grace raised it back up towards her mouth and continued to smoke.

She grabbed her phone, which was lying beside her, and stared at the buttons. She never knew if she wanted to call Michael, or if she just wanted to go over to his house. Grace, not sure what to do, set it back down next to her a moment later and proceeded to smoke her cigarette.

Grace constantly looked behind her to see if any of her parents would catch her in front of the house, but in the darkened rooms, she couldn't see anything. She peeked at the porch lights to check if they were not on, in order to make her outside presence less obvious, and once she did see that they were not switched on, she took a deep breath and faced back towards the road her house was by.

She sighed and walked towards the nearest storm drain on the road, which was only a few feet from her. Grace dropped the cigarette in a puddle of water, and it floated towards the drain hole, where it fell down out of sight. 

She placed her hands in her pockets and smiled. "My parents have no idea."

Grace used one of her hands to remove the lighter she used on her cigarette from her pocket. She pulled it out, taking a quick peek at it, and used her other hand to open it. Testing to see if it was almost out, she watched for a quick flick of light, but no matter how much she tried to make it work, it wasn't lighting up. Grace shook her head and threw the lighter in the same spot where she dropped her cigarette. 

"How oblivious are my mom and dad? It's not like I'm trying to get caught, but I love how they don't suspect a thing about what I'm doing. I thought this would be easy to notice."

She looked back behind her and examined all of the homes around her. Neither one of them had a light on, but the only things that were glowing were the street lamps, each one straightly lined along the road. One of the lights near Grace began to flicker, and suddenly, a loud noise came from the exact same light, startling her. It completely went out and darkened the one section of the road.

"Oh, that went out," Grace told herself. "People working for the city must fix it."

She took one last glance at the now unlit street light and turned around, beginning to walk up the street. She put her hands in her pockets again and whistled a few times, trying to cure her boredom. Grace stopped after several steps, and she looked around the whole street a second time. 

"Should I really go to Michael's right now?" she asked, still talking to herself. "Who knows? He could really be sleeping."

Grace used one of her hands and brushed it through her short hair. She took her hand out from in between the thick layers of her hair and placed it back in her pocket. 

"You know what? I will."

* * *

Walking up to Michael's and Matthew's house, Grace stood in front of the door. Before she knocked, she glanced around the porch, noticing that where she was standing was a short roof over her head. She looked up and stared at every part of the porch; a couple things she caught sight of were worn down chairs that sat near the door. The furniture appeared as if they've never been used, or if they have, they were used very rarely. 

Grace laid her eyes on the floor of the porch, hearing it creak in some spots as she took some small steps. Also staring at the environment around the house, it was extremely dark for being in an isolated area; there was only one street lamp that lit up the driveway to the house. Leaves on some trees around the house moved as the wind picked up a bit. Despite the strange-looking area, Grace remained calm and reached her hand towards the front door.

She used her fist and pounded on the door, but not enough to make it sound like she was infuriated; however, she was a bit upset. Grace tried to keep her knocking at a reasonable noise level without making it seem very loud. 

She lowered her hand and patiently waited for an answer. When a few seconds went by, she turned her back towards the door and covered her face with one hand, knowing that she was greatly concerned for Michael and his well-being. 

Grace uncovered her face a few seconds later and continued to walk around the porch. She crossed her arms and peeked back at the door to see if there was an answer, but she heard and saw nothing. Getting impatient, she sat down on one of the chairs, and she began to sing some lines of her favorite songs to herself.

A jolt of the front door opening made Grace jump. She immediately stopped singing and quickly stood up from the chair she was sitting on.

Michael walked outside and looked around, wondering who it was that knocked, but once Grace revealed herself, he was shocked.

"Grace," he told her. "You're here at such an...odd time. Can't sleep at all, or what else is up?"

"The sky," Grace replied. "No, but seriously, though--I want to speak to you for a bit. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I'm suspecting that you're hiding something. You've seemed a bit nervous lately, and I want to make sure you're alright."

Michael felt his heart race. "You...just want to talk?"

"Yes, that's it, babe." She grabbed his hand. "I'm just trying to see if everything is okay. Again, we don't have to talk if you don't want to."

He sighed. "Let's talk. Come on."

Michael opened the door further and allowed Grace to go inside first. As the two stepped in, he closed the front door behind them and locked it. 

The inside of the house was barely lit up. The main living room light was off, but a small lamp with a vintage cover was on in the corner of the room. The TV was on, but it wasn't playing any shows; it was simply showing black and white static. 

"Nice place," she commented, trying to take a glimpse of every detail in the darkness. "I only saw the outside of your house, but not the inside. Why is it looking so worn down out there, though it looks new in here?"

"I'm not that kind of person to ask. Ask the people who built this home. I agree, too, that it's set up in a weird way. Get a load of this: the little man has two bedroom doors!"

Grace placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, that's what I want to talk about."

"You want to talk about Matthew?" Michael was getting more tensed up, as he thought she knew about what he did to Matthew, but Michael tried to hide it. "I mean, he's just fine."

"He is?"

Michael nodded his head. "We get along fine. Why do you want to talk about him? Is something wrong with him?"

"I don't know. Is there a problem with him?" Grace directed Michael to the sofa, and they both sat down. "Be honest with me: how is your relationship with him?"

"It's perfect! Why are you concerned?"

She stared at him with a stern face. "I'm just worried about you two. I know when two boys are left alone, one of them, or both, can start acting up and get in fights with each other. I'm just making sure that's not happening to you and Matthew."

"Matthew is actually pretty calm. He's not interested in breaking the rules here, and I'm not either."

Grace shook her head once. "Just in case you're not lying to me, I'll have to talk to Matthew. Where is he? Is he sleeping?"

Michael jumped up from the couch and moved in front of Grace. "He's sleeping right now. You don't want to disturb him, do you? I'd hate it if you wake the little man, and I'm sure he'd be upset with you, too."

She looked up at him, feeling uneasy. "Michael, just relax. Let me at least go see him. If he's really asleep, I'll leave him be."

"No, I checked earlier! He's fine!"

Grace stood up and shoved him out of the way. "Geez, what's your problem? I guess I wasn't wrong when I suspected you were acting jumpy and nervous."

Michael took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, and yes, you're right; I have been nervous lately."

"What's the matter then?"

He faced himself away from her for a moment. "I'm not sure. Matthew has been overwhelming me these days; it's not easy caring for a kid when you have zero parenting experience."

"You do have a point there," Grace said. "Since you're alone with him, haven't you reported your parents to the police?"

"The hell are they going to do? I'm of age, Grace, and they won't do anything. If I was a minor, that would be a different story."

She groaned at him. "Don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to help."

Michael turned around to focus back on her. "I apologize. I am just..."

"Stressed? Yeah, I understand how you feel, Mike. Why don't you sit down and relax?" Grace walked past him and stopped. "I'll go check on Matthew. Please, do not follow me like you're some puppy, alright?"

He responded by nervously nodding his head at her. "Go...ahead."

Grace took one last glance at him and continued to walk away from Michael. She walked down further until she reached the two hallways, and--at first--she was confused, but she remembered that Matthew had more than one door leading to different sides of the hallways. Not caring which one to walk in, Grace went into the left side and headed towards Matthew's room.

She slightly, and quietly, opened the door and saw Matthew laying in his bed. He wasn't asleep, but he was on his bed, cuddling his plushies. Grace opened the door even more, and a creak of the door alerted Matthew. He quickly sat up in fear.

"Hey, it's okay, Matthew," she whispered. "My name is Grace, and I'm your brother's girlfriend. He invited me over to visit him, but as I spoke with him for a bit, I have been concerned about you and him. I just figured that I wanted to come to talk to you."

Matthew sighed and tried to calm himself. 

"If you were sleeping, I'll leave you be."

He held his Fredbear plush closer to him. "I wasn't, and...M-Michael never mentioned he h-had a g-girlfriend."

"Well, now you know that." Grace sat on his bed next to him. "I see you're scared. What's the matter?"

"M-Michael..." Matthew kept stuttering. "H-He..."

"Are you scared of your brother?"

Matthew hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Y-Yes."

"If you don't mind telling me, what is it he does to you that makes you scared of him?" Grace asked. "I won't tell him anything you say, I promise. I love him, but there's just something about him right now that seems off to me."

He played with his plushie for a moment before he spoke. "It's just t-that h-he bullies me."

She blinked a few times in shock. "What does he do to you?"

"Calls me names. Pushes me around. Curses at me. Says insults, like 'I'm a joke.'" Matthew began to cry. "He...was like this since...mom and dad left."

"Oh, come here." Grace leaned in and hugged him. "Are you sure he does this to you?"

He nodded his head, while still having tears run down his face. "If I-I t-told you with him around, he...w-would call me a l-liar."

As Grace held her arms tightly around him, she felt him physically shaking. She also heard him cry even louder, and with Michael in the other room, she didn't want him to hear. Grace kept whispering to Matthew to calm him down.

"Hey, here's your Fredbear plush," she said quietly and stopped hugging Matthew. "Why don't you keep him close to you? Does he make you feel safe at all?"

"He does," he told her. "He's m-my friend. My o-other p-plushies are my friends, t-too. They d-don't hurt me. They can't b-bully me. They are h-here to k-keep me safe."

"Why don't you snuggle with them, and I'll read something to you? Do you have any books around here? Would you like me to cuddle up next to you and read you a relaxing story?"

Matthew shook his head. "I've tried r-reading some myself. I-I can't fall a-asleep. Michael won't e-even read me o-one, because he d-doesn't care."

Grace wrapped one arm around him. "Look, I'll go talk to him sometime. In the meantime, I'll read something to you to help you sleep. Books do calm people down."

"I'm not...sure. Michael has b-bullied me s-so much that I-I can hardly s-sleep every night. He has me...scared."

"Like I said, I'll talk to him soon to figure out what is going on between you two. If he truly is doing harm to you, I'll be glad to end our relationship and take you somewhere safer."

"W-What about my p-parents?"

She started to rub his back to help him relax. "I'll also get in contact with them somehow and find out why they left."

Matthew dried any leftover tears he had on his face. "Y-You'll take me s-somewhere safe?"

"Yes, if I can see what Michael is doing to you. Right now, there are two sides to this story, and I will figure out who is right." 

Grace began to think that her boyfriend was to blame. It was obvious that Matthew was shaken up terribly and was fearful of something, but it was no typical imaginary monsters or whatever else children see in the dark. As soon as he mentioned his older brother, he began to cry and shake more, and this really concerned Grace.

She continued to sit there and whispered to Matthew in a calm and soothing voice. Her ways of letting him relax seemed to work on him, and Matthew--in just a couple of minutes--took slower deep breaths, and he wasn't shaking as much.

Grace, along with Matthew, felt herself getting tired real fast. She adjusted herself that she was comfortable and fell asleep next to Matthew with her one arm still around him.

* * *

"Hey, wake up, baby," a soft voice told Grace. "I didn't know you'd fall asleep. Shouldn't you be at home so you don't get caught?"

Grace groaned in exhaustion, and her eyes slowly opened. She noticed Michael leaning over the bed, stroking her left arm. 

"How long was I asleep?" She yawned and looked over at Matthew's dresser, seeing an alarm clock on top of it. "It's only two in the morning? Where the hell were you for two hours if you didn't know I was asleep?"

"Sorry. I was out getting a drink with my one friend, Ethan. That dude couldn't sleep either, so I thought we'd go and..."

Grace stood up from the bed, interrupting him. "What do you mean you went out for a drink? Did you go out and drink alcohol?"

"I did, but it's all cool. It's just a harmless drink, Grace; it's not gonna kill me."

"If you drink an excess amount, yeah, it will." She stared at him. "You're not even 21!"

"Do I care? Cops can fuck off. Again, alcohol, if I hardly drink much, is not going to kill me from the inside out. Drinks are drinks, and if I enjoy it, I have the right to drink it."

Grace widened her mouth in shock. "Did you just..."

"Insult the police? Yeah, I did." Michael chuckled. "Sorry. I must be a bit...out of it. I'll be better later in the morning."

She shook her head at him. "You really need rest. Like I said, alcohol can kill you in a way; it can kill your thinking process, so that's why you're saying such jacked up stuff. Seriously, sleep, Michael. Second of all, I doubt you can drink under 21 in this state. If it was only a couple of drinks, I'll let you go, but if I hear about you drinking again, I will actually report you. You don't break the law like that."

Michael frowned. "Last I heard, that law changed."

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Really? Unless I'm not keeping up with the news, I never heard of that."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please go home, Grace. I don't want you to get in trouble by your parents."

She crossed her arms. "Not after what Matthew told me."

"What did he say?" 

"I'd tell you, but it's...a long story. Let's just...talk about it in the morning. I'm tired right now, and I need sleep." She rubbed her eyes and started walking out of the bedroom. "Let me ask you again, Michael: are you sure things are fine between you and Matthew?"

Michael never answered until they reached the living room. "I'm positive, Grace. I'm not even lying to you."

"Alright," Grace told him and placed her hand on the door knob. "If I find out you are lying, it's over for us."

"Fair enough." He kissed her for a moment on her lips, and he eventually stopped. "I'll see you soon, babe."

"I'll see you soon, too," she tiredly responded. "I love you."

Grace heard a faint "I love you, too" from Michael as she left the inside of the house. The creaks from the worn out porch came back as she stepped onto it, but they disappeared as she stepped out onto the sidewalk leading to the house. She went out to the car she normally drove, which she sneakily took while her parents were asleep, and she entered it, closing the door and soon starting up the car.

She waited until it was fully ready to be driven and left the area. Grace noticed that it was starting to rain, and she quickly turned on the windshield wipers. Both wipers easily cleaned off any rain drops that had fallen on the windshield.

It wasn't until five minutes later when she saw something laying in the middle of the road. Noticing it, she quickly applied the brakes, and the car came to a complete stop.

Grace unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over the dashboard to get a better view of what was there on the road. She was too terrified to get out, so she relied on looking through the windshield to catch a glimpse of the thing on the road, but once she got a clear view, she nearly threw up.

What she saw was a dead body of a little girl, laying on her stomach in a puddle of blood and was facing towards the car. Some her dark blonde hair had been forcefully ripped out of her head, but the missing hair strands were nowhere to be seen. Her eyes have been torn from their sockets, visible and laying on the ground next to her. The little girl also looked as if something sharp had been stabbed in her neck, as huge piles of blood dripped from the right side. She had some blood stains on her clothes, possibly from being stabbed in other places of her body. The little girl also had blood dripping from her mouth, which was hanging open.

Grace screamed and slammed on the gas pedal, turning the car around the little girl's body. 

At that point, she was about to vomit, as the vision of the little girl never left her mind. She covered her mouth, crying and feeling sick to her stomach, and immediately raced the rest of the way to her house.


	6. Chapter 6

Grace raced into her house and slammed the door behind her, not thinking about how any noisy sound she made could easily wake up her parents at that moment. She locked the door from the inside and felt herself breathing rapidly from fear. She hacked a few times, still getting that same sickening feeling that was in her stomach, but now, it was in her throat. Grace quickly walked towards the bathroom and leaned over the sink, trying to catch her breath.

"What...did I...see?" she asked in between each breath she took. "There...was...a..."

She wasn't paying attention to how fast she was breathing, but she finally focused on controlling the speed of every one she let out. Grace put her right hand on her forehead, as she believed she was going to pass out, but in case something like that were to happen to her, she slowly sat on the bathroom floor and leaned against the open door.

"I hope...I was seeing things. That...was...pretty graphic."

Grace clutched her arms against her stomach and tried to get the unbearable feeling to go away. She coughed loudly again and cleared her throat shortly afterwards. 

As she began to close her eyes, a voice made her open them back up. 

"Grace? You okay there, sweetie?"

Grace noticed her mom--Janice--standing in front of her, and she leaned down to see what was happening to her daughter. Her mom placed both hands on her face, staring at her in concern.

"Do I need to call an ambulance, Grace?" she asked fearfully.

Grace shook her head. "I just saw...something. Don't...worry."

Her mom patted her face with one hand. "Grace, for God's sake, wake up! Look at me! I should be worried if you're acting like this!"

Grace opened her eyes back up, listening to what her mom just said. "I have...a weak...stomach, so...that is why...I'm...looking...sick. I noticed...something...graphic; there was a...dead...body. Don't...fret, though...I'll be...fine."

"A dead body?" Janice didn't know what else to say. "What do you mean?"

Grace coughed once again and still attempted to catch her breath. "Mother, I saw a little girl. She...she was laying on the road...looking dead. Her eyes were out...of her sockets...and...and...I can't describe the rest."

"A dead girl?"

The sick 18-year-old finally got her breathing under control. "I hate to say it, but I went for...a walk--yeah, just a walk. I needed to get some time by myself, as work is overwhelming me at the moment. I walked a few blocks near where my boyfriend lives, though I never went to his house--really--and saw a little girl laying in the middle of the road. I can't say what she looked like, because I'd feel disgusted again, and I think you'd be, too. Well, I screamed and ran away, and now, I can't get the sight of her out of my mind."

Janice was surprised by this story, though she never knew some details Grace gave were lies. "You went for a walk without telling us, especially at this time of night? What if there was a murderer around where that girl was? You could've gotten killed yourself!"

"I'm sorry, Mother. I promise I'll let you know next time!" Grace stood up, cupped her hands underneath running water, and took a sip out of them. "I just couldn't sleep, and again, I apologize for not telling you."

Janice got off the ground as well. "Please, you need to let the authorities know! Why didn't you call them?"

"You know I can't handle graphic stuff. I'm pretty sure when I see something like her dead body, I'm gonna react in a certain way and not think about something else."

Her mom laid one hand on her hip and sighed. "If you were at the sight of a murder, you have to report it."

"Why don't you? I'm feeling sick as hell right now just by thinking about the little girl!" Grace felt tears forming in her eyes. "I doubt whoever killed her was human; I have never heard of anyone who has enough strength to pull out eyes or full strands of hair."

"You just never know, Grace," Janice replied. "It could really be a person. I have never seen any news stories about animals around this area who could do that to people." She put a hand on Grace's shoulder. "Listen, I don't care if you are sickened by the thought of a dead body; you were there to see the body, so you report it."

"How about you call the police, and I'll say that I was there? If they think you're blaming me for any reason, I'll confirm that you're right."

Janice yawned, exhausted. "Alright, fine, but give me the address of where you found the girl. Just write it down or something and give it to me. You relax and get a drink."

"Yes, thanks, Mother." Grace was facing away from the sink but turned back towards it, and she washed her face with running water. "I appreciate it."

Her mom patted her back. "Thank you for telling me about this."

Grace stopped running water and wiped her face with a hand towel. "No problem."

Janice rushed out of the bathroom and ran into the living room to call emergency services. She didn't have the number for one of the local police stations, but she easily had the one number for any kind of emergency service. After pressing three buttons, she placed the phone up to her and started talking.

"Hello?" Janice told the operator she was connected with. "This isn't really an emergency, but I'd like to report a murder that my daughter has come across. She was outside and was walking around for a bit, but she later encountered a dead little girl."

"Alright, Miss," the operator said. "How old is your daughter?"

"She is 18. She said that she would report this on her own, but she's just shaken up right now from seeing it, and I figured I would report it. Is that okay?"

"Preferably, the witness would have to report it, but in this case, that is fine." The operator hesitated. "May I actually speak to her, so I could get details on what this little girl looked like, so we could send the data out to the police?"

Janice looked over towards the bathroom and saw Grace standing in the hallway. "Here, let me ask her."

"Ask me what?" Grace crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

Her mom took the phone away from her ear. "The operator wants to speak with you."

Groaning, Grace nodded her head and walked towards Janice, taking the phone out of her hand. She sighed and began to talk to the 911 operator in an exhausted voice.

"Yes, this is Grace--the murder witness. I'm sorry that I made my mom call you, but what I saw was pretty graphic, and I couldn't handle the sight. I needed to relax for a bit."

"Grace..." The operator cleared his throat. "If you don't mind telling me what this little girl looked like, can you please give me details, just so I could give them to the police?"

Grace took a deep breath and resisted herself from having another panic attack. "I don't really know the name of the girl, but one thing I know is that she appeared like she was five or six years old at least. She had straight, dark blonde hair and wore what looked like a pink dress. I couldn't tell much from her facial appearance, because her eyes were pulled out of her sockets...and...and--I'm sorry--her face was scratched up severely."

The operator sounded like he couldn't handle what she was saying either. "Any other details? Well, let me ask: how do you think she was killed? You said she was scratched up and had her eyes pulled out."

"Why ask me that? I'm not a cop!"

"Grace, you were there. Can you at least tell me, please?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I couldn't find a weapon anywhere, but it seemed like she was stabbed multiple times. I also don't think that whatever killed her was human, because I know no one with enough strength to pull out eyes completely...or hair."

"The girl's hair was pulled out?"

"Yeah, it was. Some strands...were pulled completely out of her scalp."

The operator paused. "Oh...wow. Um, alright. What is the address of where you found this girl?"

Grace told him the address and added, "It's near my boyfriend's house."

"Okay, Grace, and I'm going to send the cops there now." He exhaled once out of his mouth and murmured something under his breath. "I'm glad this is different."

"Excuse me, sir?" she asked. "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing, young lady."

Grace became confused. "I heard you say that something was 'different,' I think. What do you mean?"

The operator answered nervously. "I've just been hearing lots of calls of people going missing this past week--most of these calls being the sounds of someone getting murdered, as they were being reported by neighbors or family members. I think I got about 14 calls in that matter of time, and I alerted the police, but nearly half of those units never found a body or any evidence of a killing, yet the person is mysteriously gone.

"It seems like every call about this I receive, and the other operators get as well, happens in between the hours of 12 and six in the morning. As crazy as this sounds, this is all really happening. I think from two of the 14 calls I got, there were witnesses being killed while on the phone. The thought of that now just shakes me up." His voice turned from calm to anxious. "Don't know if you heard, but in case there is some sneaky murderer on the loose, police came out with a statement a couple days ago and said that people need to make sure to secure their homes as much as possible. They are also urging that no one needs to be out after midnight until sunrise, just in case. Soon as they said that, the calls never stopped at all. I think this whole town is in fear."

"Wait, are you for real?" She listened closely to the operator, not believing what she was hearing. "No signs of a person's body or evidence of a killing, even if nearby witnesses heard them getting murdered? They're also mysteriously gone? That is some supernatural shit."

"I thought I was going to get another call about that, but I'm happy that you actually found something." He sighed at her. "The other operators here got similar calls. I'm about to take time off work, just because I'm stressed."

Grace didn't answer him right away. "I...I don't know what to say. I'm just making sure--is what you're saying really the truth?"

"I'm honest, Grace," the operator assured. "This all may sound like a plot to a horror movie, but it's all true. I'm terrified about who this killer is...or killers. Let's just listen to the cops for now and hope everything clears up."

"No one knows what this murderer looks like?"

"As of now, no." His voice screamed out panic, and this caused Grace to feel the same way. "Whoever is killing people off is doing a great job."

"They're not leaving any evidence behind? It's almost impossible to make multiple murders look like they never happened."

"That's true." The operator's voice became more shaky. "Anyways, Grace, I need to send the cops to the location you gave me. I have to get off the phone with you right now."

Grace stopped him. "Wait! What's your name?"

"Why do you need to know?"

She nervously smiled. "You seem like a smart, nice guy. Look, I'm not trying to get with you, as I have a boyfriend already, but you know about this...mysterious incident going around town. I have lots of questions, and I hope we can talk more about it...as acquaintances only."

"Oh, well, my name is Andrew," he replied. "I'm kind of like you right now; although I'm fearful of it, I'm wondering about this stuff, too. If we ever meet up, where do you want to go?"

"Hm, what about that popular antique mall downtown? I met my friends there before, and it's a nice hangout spot."

Andrew hesitated, thinking for a moment. "Sounds fair. How about we meet before midnight and try to figure this out?"

"You mean...actually try to catch this murderer in action? I don't know."

"Hey, I own an AR back home. If we come across them and need to shoot them for self-defense, I have the right to." He stopped talking for a few seconds. "If you're wondering, too--I'm the youngest at this 911 call center; I'm only 26, so don't think you're going to be meeting up with a creepy old man."

Grace noticed Janice staring at her in concern. "Um, let me ask my mother."

Janice mouthed "no" at her.

"Oh, never mind. She won't let me."

"Damn," Andrew said. "That's okay, though. You could be a risk taker like me and just sneak out."

Grace shook her head. "Uh, I need to go now. I don't even know how we ended up in a casual conversation so easily."

"Well, I'm sorry for keeping you, Grace."

"Don't apologize. You're fine."

Andrew said a "goodbye" to Grace and both hung up the phone at the same time. Grace sighed and placed the phone on a nearby table.

"I bet you're wondering what that was about," Grace told Janice.

"You're right, Grace." Her mom appeared upset and confused at once. "Why would you meet up with a 911 operator? What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm not going to," Grace replied. "He was planning on finding someone, because there's been a crazy incident going around town. Did you read the newspaper at all? There has been people being murdered, and their bodies are not being found."

"I think I read something about that. I remember reading a section of a story saying 'it is estimated that over five people are missing or dead.'" Janice gave a stern look at Grace. "What is with this 'Andrew' guy, though? Answer me."

"He was just interested in this stuff, and I am, too, but I'm not going to meet him."

Janice sighed. "You better not, or you're in trouble."

"Yes, I understand, Mother."

Her mom placed a hand on Grace's shoulder. "Come on. You need to get some sleep, especially after what you encountered earlier. If you have trouble sleeping, I'll be glad to talk to you for a bit. You can just come wake me up."

"Won't we need to be awake for the police?"

"No, Grace. We'll let them do their job. If they want to question us, we'll just go down to one of the police stations."

Grace nodded her head and sighed, leaving the living room and heading off to bed.

The rest of the night, though, was a restless kind of night. Grace never went into her mom's room, as she would rather try to figure things out by herself. She kept thinking about the little girl she saw and who could've killed a sweet, innocent child. She knew that whoever murdered her was some heartless person, or thing, whom has no empathy for anyone and what they do to people; Grace felt herself getting more angry as she thought this.

She still doubted that the girl's murderer was human; it had to be some sort of thing with superhuman strength. Grace really didn't know anyone that could pull out eyes or hair easily with no troubles.

"It is no human," she told herself. "I know it has to be a thing, but what exactly is it?"

Grace sat up in her bed and looked out her open window. She, remembering what cops around town suggested, quickly got out from underneath her bed covers and went over to the window to close it. Grace made sure it was closed tightly, so no one could try to break in. As she locked the window, she glanced around, looking at every part of the backyard. She eventually spotted something that made her heart race.

Grace noticed a pair of two red eyes looking around the road from the back of the house. It was hard to tell the rest of the figure from the darkness, but she could tell that it wasn't anything friendly. Grace ducked down while still peeking out the window.

The red eyes moved towards a street light, and soon enough, the strange figure became more visible. Grace, watching carefully, kept her eyes on it.

The figure went under the light, and it was revealed to be some sort of animatronic. It appeared as if it was a robotic fox, but Grace could hardly see with the dark surrounding it; the street light never helped much either. She kept staring at it, in fear, and ran back to her bed, scrambling under the covers. She hid there, with no sleep, for the rest of the night until the sun came up.


	7. Chapter 7

Matthew woke up a few hours later after falling asleep with Grace by his side. He sat up in his bed, glancing around his room, and he took a peek at his alarm clock. The small, black clock was facing towards him on his dresser, reading "8:13 am." Matthew sighed and grabbed his Fredbear plush, tightly wrapping it around his arms.

He looked at both doors that were on opposite sides, as he was still scared of his brother and didn't want to run into him if he left the room. Still holding the plush in his hands, he slowly got out of bed and walked towards the right door, eventually cracking it open to see if Michael was outside. Matthew didn't see anything, and he opened the door further.

He quietly walked down the hallway and kept his plush held against his chest. Like Grace mentioned to him, holding the Fredbear plush, or any of his other plushies, made him feel more secure whenever he wasn't around his brother. Matthew remembered what she said and nearly felt himself crying again. He began to hold the plushie even tighter with his arms around it.

"Michael, don't...don't scare me," Matthew whispered to himself. "You don't know what you're...doing to me."

Because of how he held it, the plush was staring up at him, almost like if it was listening to what he was saying. The Fredbear plushie, as Matthew saw it, had a look as if it always heard what he would tell it. This made Matthew feel more safe, knowing that he, despite the toy being inanimate, had something to talk to if he was having a bad day.

Matthew walked closer to the kitchen and released one arm off the plush's body. He grabbed onto the wall and carefully peeked around the corner, keeping watch for Michael. Not seeing anyone in there, he quietly, and quickly, ran over to the fridge for some food. The child hasn't eaten not one single bite of something since the day before, and though he never wanted to eat due to stress, he was feeling desperate right now.

He placed the plush on a counter near the fridge and double checked to make sure it wouldn't fall off the counter. He used his two hands to properly sit it up on the flat surface, and in case the plush would fall off, he would try to immediately catch it in his arms.

Matthew opened the refrigerator and looked around in it. He hardly saw anything that was appetizing to him, as the things he mostly saw were stuff that Michael would eat or drink. There was a box of alcoholic drinks stored on the bottom shelf of the fridge. 

Matthew, not thinking, yanked one of the bottles out of the box and closed the fridge afterwards. Feeling frustrated and fed up with what Michael has always done to him, he threw the bottle against the nearest wall, creating a loud rattling sound, and a small crack formed in it. The bottle had some of the drink spilled out from where the crack was located, but the entire bottle did not break. 

Matthew grabbed the plush from off the counter and immediately rushed from the kitchen, and he had enough time to escape to his room before Michael could see what the noise was.

"I didn't grab anything to eat," he whispered to his plushies as he hid himself back under his covers. "I think I don't care, really. I destroyed a glass bottle; I hope it shows Michael how I feel."

Matthew cuddled with the other four plushies under his bed sheets. He laid the Fredbear, Bonnie, and Freddy plushies by his right shoulder, whereas his Chica and Foxy plush laid on the other side. Shaking in fear, he stayed underneath his sheets, waiting for his brother to suddenly pop out of nowhere and humiliate him even more.

For the past few minutes, which felt like an hour to him, nothing unexpectedly showed up. Matthew heard Michael in the kitchen, but there was no sign of him yelling Matthew's name or anything else. Still terrified, he grabbed the Fredbear plushie and held it tightly in his arms, yet waiting for Michael for appear.

After another few minutes, Matthew uncovered himself and revealed his head from under his covers. He looked around his room and never saw his older brother anywhere. He took a deep breath of relief, but although he was safe from Michael for now, Matthew knew he was still vulnerable to his bullying.

He felt anger rising up in him again, and he formed his hands into fists. Matthew got out of his bed and quickly glanced around his entire room, eventually finding a spot in the wall to punch. His hand never made a hole, but he still hit it hard enough to make his hand hurt.

"Why, brother?" Matthew quietly asked himself, shaking his hand from hitting it against the wall. "Why are you so mean to me?"

He turned around to look back at his two bedroom doors. Even when a pounding noise was made against the wall, Michael still never appeared to see what was up. At this point, Matthew thought that his older brother was gone.

In case Michael wasn't at the house, Matthew grabbed his Fredbear plush and wrapped one arm around it, and he purposely made another obvious sound against the wall that would've easily grabbed his brother's attention, but there was nothing.

"M-Michael?" Matthew called out, feeling himself stutter. "A-Are you here?"

No response.

"Michael?" He raised his voice.

There was still nothing.

"Hm, I think I'm alone again." Matthew felt both scared and excited at the same time. "He finally is gone."

He let out a deep breath of relief and carefully put his plush on his bed. Matthew sat at the foot of it, and he laid his hands in his lap. He looked down at his plush in fear, followed by looking at his other plushies, who were all lying on his bed with the covers unfolded and not made.

Matthew took one last glance at his alarm clock, which now read "8:16 am," and he looked at his plushie once again.

"Why do you think he does the terrible things to me?" he asked it. "Does he truly hate me for the sake of it, or am I really a mistake to everyone? I'd like to know."

The Fredbear plush remained silent.

"Oh, I don't know what to think. I guess everything he tells me is right. I believe that is what he's been trying to say all this time. He's not doing this because he wants to; I truly think there is something wrong with me."

The plush was still quiet.

"The only kind person I met was--what was her name?--oh, Grace. You probably don't know her, but I met her last night. She seems to be a very nice girl. I may have just met her, but she's already acting like she's my mom." Matthew shyly smiled. "Haven't met anyone like her that has been so caring towards me. I've just been pushed around a lot these days."

His plush sat there, still not saying a word.

"Who do I believe? Michael says I'm a joke. Grace says I'm not. Please help me, my friend. I don't know who's right."

The plush unexpectedly fell over and almost landed off the bed, but Matthew caught it just in time. He placed it in his lap and wrapped both of his arms around it, securely hanging onto it tightly in case it would fall again.

Matthew sighed and glared down at the plush. "I'm confused right now. I still have to figure out who is right about me. I can't help but to feel overwhelmed when I hear two different things, but after all what my brother has done, I am really starting to think that he's not lying."

* * *

Later in the day, when it was near noon, Grace had hid herself underneath her bed sheets. She was terribly shaking from what she has seen from that very early morning, and despite trying to calm down, she never felt okay or had any motivation to leave her bed at all.

Janice walked in to see her daughter curled up with her sheets covering all of her body, except her head. She saw Grace looking around the room in fear, as her eyes moved rapidly around, and once she spotted her mom, she closed her eyes quickly to cover up her fake sleepiness.

Janice exhaled heavily, annoyed with her daughter, and pressed her hand down on Grace's side, trying to get her attention. Grace responded by mumbling a few words and flipping over on the other side.

"Grace, sweetie," her mom told her. "It's almost noon. Shouldn't you already be heading out for work?"

Grace pretended to stay asleep. 

"If you don't work, you're not getting paid."

No response.

Janice shook her head. "Grace, I saw you with your eyes open. Faking your sleep isn't fooling me."

"Alright, fine!" Grace groaned and kicked her bed sheets off. "I didn't get sleep last night, but whatever!"

"I thought you were okay sleeping. Why are you saying that you..." Janice stopped talking as Grace looked at her, revealing bags under her eyes. "Oh, looks like you really didn't get sleep."

"So you see it now, huh? What did I tell you?"

"Look, it doesn't matter if you never got any sleep; you need to work. Just like school, it's necessary to go. If you don't without telling your boss, you'll either get fired or increase your chance of getting fired."

Grace laughed. "I'm working at a stupid diner and getting minimum wage anyways. I don't care if I get fired."

Janice sighed. "Seriously, stop talking like you're a smartass, Grace. You want to get at least some money or no money? Your father and I have been deciding on forcing you to move out when you turned 18, but we didn't, because we knew that you still needed to financially start your own life. You're not pulling off this job of yours, just because you couldn't sleep; you need that money to support yourself. Now, take some energy supplements if you need them throughout the day."

"Yeah, sure." Grace walked over to her mirror and fixed her hair. "I didn't sleep last night due to me seeing something that you'd hardly believe, and I'm not talking about that girl. I don't care if you're making me go; I'm staying home, and that is final! You expect me to act fine at work after seeing a murdered child? Don't you even know how I react to seeing that stuff? I almost puked last night, Mother! You just don't get it, do you? Don't even ask about this other thing I saw, because I'm sure I was just hallucinating!" 

"It's life, Grace. You know what your grandma did to me after her sister passed away? Sure I was frustrated with what she did, but I was forced to go back to school after her funeral. Sometimes, we just have to deal with things, even if we don't like it."

"Seeing a murdered kid is normal? Am I supposed to pretend that I never saw that happen? Quit it with the terrible advice! Why? Oh, just because I'm not following it." Grace rushed out her room and called to Janice from down the hallway. "Well, I need to get ready, although I'm supposed to act like I'm so motivated to go when I witnessed a damn murder!"

Janice remained there in silence, unsure about how to feel after what she told Grace. She began to think that some of her advice did agitate and anger her daughter even more, but with her stating that some things in life happen, whether people like it or not, seemed accurate.

She began to think hard about this "other thing" that her daughter supposedly saw, but despite her knowing that Grace didn't want her to ask, she was curious.

Grace was in the kitchen, looking through cabinets to find something to eat. She heard footsteps enter the same room, and she turned to see who was making the footsteps. She rolled her eyes as she noticed Janice standing there, leaning against the wall.

"What?" Grace asked.

Janice blinked a few times at her daughter.

"Look, Mother, I'm not working today!" she yelled. "Yes, you may have heard me say that I had to get ready, but I was being sarcastic!"

"Alright, fine, stay home today, but that's not what I want to ask you."

"Then what do you want?"

Janice moved herself closer to Grace and placed her hand on the counter. "I know you probably don't want me to ask this, but what did you see, other than the dead girl?"

"It was just a hallucination. It wasn't anything too big of a deal."

"Was it?"

Grace shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know. It kind of felt real to me."

"What was it that you saw?"

"If I told you, you would not believe me. Please don't say any kind of bullshit like, 'I promise I won't judge you,' because I know you will. What I saw was something that even my closest friends won't believe." Grace grabbed a slice from a package of bread and put it in the toaster. "Yes, I also mention my friends who act like siblings to me; even if I say to them what I saw, they'd think I'm crazy."

Janice took her hand off the counter. "Will you just please tell me, Grace--"

"No!" Grace replied immediately. 

Her mom kept staring at her in concern. "This 'thing' acts like it's clearly bothering you, and I want to make sure you're okay. I'm your mother, so please, please tell me what you saw."

"I said no!" Grace slammed her hand on the counter. "How many times do I need to say this? Leave me the hell alone! This thing felt real, but I'm guaranteed that I was just seeing things!"

"Grace, I am not leaving you alone until you tell me what you saw. I'm really concerned for you."

"Oh my gosh, fine!" Grace walked away from the counter and faced herself the opposite way. "This thing I noticed, though, may sound like something you'd see in a dream. All I'm gonna say is that...I saw an animatronic last night roaming the streets. There, I said it! You happy?"

Janice responded by hesitating for a few seconds. "An animatronic? Who was it did you see? Did one of the Fredbear's Diner animatronics get loose or something? I've heard of animatronics malfunctioning but not to the point where they leave a building."

"It wasn't Fredbear, not even Spring Bonnie. At the diner, there are no other animatronics, except those two. We have been thinking about adding other robots, but the company hasn't done it at all, so I think it'll just be the two."

"Who was this animatronic then?"

"It's kind of strange, but I saw a fox animatronic. As you should know, Fredbear's doesn't have a fox robot. I'm not sure what its name is, but the animatronic looked way scarier than normal." Grace sighed and turned back towards Janice. "Oh, I think his name is Foxy! You know him? There is another place with the same company with this animatronic and his other friends. My boyfriend's little brother has plush toys of all of them."

Janice placed a hand on her hip. "You really saw Foxy?"

"Yeah, and although it seemed like a hallucination, it really felt like he was there. What scares me is the fact that he appeared more terrifying, but I think with that, I was seeing things. Foxy might have gotten loose."

"How would he have gotten loose from the building? That pizzeria is nearly an hour drive away!"

"I don't know. Call me crazy all you want, but I saw him--really. Also, I thought you weren't going to judge me for admitting what I saw. I mean, are you? You're looking at me as if I'm insane."

"I am not. Are you absolutely sure you saw him?"

"I bet you $500 that I'm not lying," Grace said. "I'm really, really guaranteeing you that I saw him out my window."

Janice remained silent again for a moment. "Why didn't you report it to the police or something? I'm sure they could've caught Foxy and sent him back to the pizzeria."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. I was just too terrified, so I went to hide underneath my bed sheets; I thought I felt safer there."

"Next time, if you see some other robot like him again, you must report it."

"Yes, Mother. I'll keep that in mind."

"Don't forget, too, that you need to call your workplace before your scheduled time. I suggest, instead of calling in sick, that you just call in and say that you need a 'mental day.'"

As Janice left the room, Grace grabbed the piece of bread she placed in the toaster. She put it on a plate, and while she started to eat it, she thought about Foxy from that early morning. 

Was he truly his normal self, or was the more terrifying version of him real? Grace kept thinking about the image of him in her mind, and she felt her heart beating fast. She began to think that there was no way that what she saw was just a hallucination.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a journal, meaning that Grace is writing her feelings and everything in her perspective.

**"July 3rd, 1983  
3:40 pm**

_This is Grace. I just want to say that I have no idea where to start right now when it comes to writing about my problems to lessen any stress I have. I hardly have written in this, just because there is so much going on._

_I'll say first that work has me overwhelmed. The fact I work minimum wage cleaning up tables and floors at Fredbear's is too much for me to handle. I wish I had a better job, so I could at least afford a car, but working at that diner is the only thing I have for now, as most summer jobs are being taken by other high school students. Not many jobs as easy as cleaning up stuff are found here around town, so as I said before, I'm best off staying at the diner until I do find a decent paying job._

_The reason I do want an easier job first is because I get stressed out very easily, and if I immediately do some task that I can't figure out--even with help--I will just give up. I can handle doing basic chores, which my current job is fine enough for now, but when it comes to finding a better job, I know I'll have to gradually work with a harder task. _

_Also, this may sound crazy, but I am still driving my parents' family car. I mentioned that I can't afford one right now, and my mother and father won't buy me one, so I have to stick with whatever is the garage. The good thing is that I mostly work weekend hours, and my parents never go out on the weekends; they usually stay home and do things around the house, like my mother does some household stuff and my father typically lays back on the couch and watches TV. I do wish I was at home helping out, but my mother has accepted the fact that I have to earn money._

_When I am working a better paying job, I'll buy my own vehicle. My dream car is a convertible, like what my boyfriend's one friend has. I honestly don't care what maker or color it is, as I'm not going to be acting like some spoiled, rich brat and complain about the wrong color or the overall auto maker. While I like the color red the most, I can go for any other color on my own car. Unlike some of the rude girls in my graduating class, I was raised to be respectful and caring, and I sure want to make sure my future kids don't act like those girls._

_Just writing that made my think of my boyfriend, Michael. I'm not sure what to think about what his little brother, Matthew, has been saying to me; he says that his older brother has been bullying him to the point where he has panic attacks. I hate to seem him so scared and terrified, but who is telling the truth? I know that some kids tend to lie to get themselves out of trouble, but Matthew's 'lies' actually seem realistic. Is my boyfriend truly being an asshole to his own sibling?_

_I can't help but to think what he does to him when they're both alone at home. Their parents somehow left them without saying anything, and I cannot believe that they'd not mention a thing to their children. Michael, though, is old enough to legally watch him when their parents are not home. If he was underaged, their parents could easily be taken to jail for neglect._

_When I visited Michael last night, his little brother seemed terribly shaken up. He immediately cried once talking to me, and I wrapped my arms around him to make him feel safe. I asked him what was the matter, and he replied with comments mentioning his older brother and how he treated him. This really made me concerned for their relationship, but Michael swears that the connection between them is just fine._

_One other thing that concerned me is the fact that when I left his house that same night, I came across a body of a little girl. I'd describe how her body looked, but I'll just say that it's too graphic for almost anyone to handle. When I saw her, I nearly threw up._

_I also called 911 that night to report her body, and the operator, who introduced himself as Andrew, said that something was going on. There are people being murdered around this town, but whoever is murdering them is very sneaky and quiet. There has been no evidence of these murders going on, other than neighbors hearing someone getting killed. Andrew said that he got 14 calls in the following week about missing people, and two of those calls were people getting killed while on the phone with him. He also told me that he wasn't the only one getting these calls; other operators are receiving them, too._

_In the meantime, police made a public announcement saying that we should secure our homes as much as possible and not be outside between the hours of 12 and six AM every night. I don't see why they would say that if the killings haven't stopped, according to what Andrew told me. _

_If the killings get out of control too quickly, we may be forced to move. I mean, if all of this is happening just in this town, citizens may have to go somewhere else._

_Right?_

_I hope that would help. If not, we're all fucked._

_When hearing about the police not finding bodies, I know the only visible body that's ever been found, I guess, was by me. I'm sure the police responded to that call very quickly in case they didn't want to miss something. Seems like every cop in this town is so frantic to discover who is killing all these people._

_I'm not positive how many people went missing, but from what I heard, I'm assuming that over 30 people, just a guess, have mysteriously vanished this week, and that number may just continue to rise. I also heard on the news, on the channel my father was watching earlier, that there are more children being killed than teenagers or adults. More guys are being killed than women. I'm not positive this is all correct, but I'm just listening to the news for now._

_I may have a theory on who is killing these people, though this theory sounds...ridiculous. _

_I think the murderers are animatronics._

_You may be thinking I'm crazy, but this is just what I think. _

_I happened to encounter Foxy walking up my street this early morning. When I looked out my window, I saw him roaming the street by the back end of my house. He had glowing red eyes that, if I were to look right into them, would easily blind me. He moved forward a few steps from the darkness, stopped, and searched around for a bit. In panic, I ran back to my bed and hid there for the rest of the night._

_I'm not sure what happened to him after I hid underneath my bed sheets. I hoped that he would disappear, but something occurred not too long after that. _

_I heard the distant screaming of one of my next door neighbors, and I knew just who it was._

_Her name was Abigail. A 16-year-old girl, that I've seen at school many times before graduation, was now probably dead. I recognized that scream anywhere, and I knew it was her. She was one of those typical bullies at school, but despite me hating her, I kind of am shocked by her sudden death._

_I began to think that Foxy killed her. I couldn't see exactly what was going on, but it makes sense that I saw an animatronic fox, and just a few minutes later, a scream suddenly came from her house. After I heard her scream, there was a series of more screams--probably her parents--and there was silence afterwards._

_I was there underneath my sheets, taking in the sudden, dreadful screams of people near my house getting killed. I was too terrified to call the cops, which was idiotic of me, and I remained there until noon later that day._

_I'm not sure if anyone would believe that theory of mine. I mean, is it really animatronics? _

_The reason I threw that 's' in that word is because I feel like there are more robots. I may just be paranoid, but I guarantee myself that there are also his friends tagging along to this mass killing spree. _

_Those robots must be superhuman or something, as they act like they're not seen or heard of. The fact that they can also tear apart a human, as I think that little girl I saw was killed by one, just tells me that they have incredible strength. _

_I would tell all of this to the police, but I doubt they would believe me. Imagine if I went to a police station right now and mentioned to them what I think is killing these people. They would probably tell me, 'You sure you weren't dreaming or something, Miss?'_

_Even if I was asked that, I would tell them that it was my own theory. I could also ask if they can hunt down these animatronics just in case, and even if they don't know where they go, the cops can try their hardest._

_Yet again, if the police do believe me, some of them may fear coming across the robots; I wouldn't blame them if that is the case. If these animatronics are really killing people, and if the cops learn they have superhuman traits, I wouldn't like to be a cop myself and go after robots like that; I'd rather have the army or some shit take care of that, since they are more powerful. If I encountered one of the animatronics, I bet you that I would probably be killed upon coming into his or her sight._

_I know that Foxy has his other friends--Freddy, Bonnie, Chica. I haven't seen the others, as I've only seen Foxy, but I'm worried that his three friends are out there somewhere._

_Another thing I noticed about Foxy is that he looked more menacing than his original counterpart. I already mentioned his glowing red eyes, but he had more terrifying things to him._

_He looked more tattered and torn up._

_He had a long tongue._

_He had sharp teeth._

_He also had claws._

_This wasn't the Foxy I was familiar with. The original Foxy from the pizzeria looked more friendly, even to children. I bet that whoever actually sees these scary robots, they may develop a phobia to animatronics. I don't mind looking at pictures of the original animatronics, but I know I was scared of the Foxy I saw from the night before._

_He appeared as if he belonged in a dream, though this was real life when I witnessed him walking on the street. What kind of dream is scary and unpleasant, though? A nightmare is that kind of dream._

_I think I'll give him a certain name to go with 'Foxy.' _

_Nightmare, huh? _

_Wait, how's Nightmare Foxy? That sounds like a great nickname, actually._

_I don't know why I decided to give him such a name, but I didn't want to refer to him as the original Foxy. I sure as hell know that the one I saw wasn't the typical friendly-looking Foxy from the pizzeria. _

_If his friends are also active, I guess that'll mean I place 'Nightmare' in front of their names as well._

_Enough of this fun already; I need to stay focused._

_The idea that there is an animatronic, or animatronics, roaming around this town is a pretty serious deal. If there are truly these Nightmares going around and killing people, it may be hard to prove their existence. It seems as if they know how to murder someone and leave behind no evidence. I guess, though, that the best piece of evidence was that little girl I encountered when coming home._

_I haven't heard back from the cops that I called over to that location. I am starting to think that they haven't found anything else yet, other than the girl's body._

_Thinking about it now, I wonder if the animatronics took her body to cover up the evidence before the police actually got there. Maybe they put it there to sicken and scare the crap out of me, as if they knew that someone was going to be driving on that quiet road. If that's the case, they do a great job at it._

_Well, since they're robots, too, they must have gone and hid somewhere when the rain started pouring down. It kind of makes sense when I saw the little girl only and no one else that following night. From what I remember, robots are typically prone to electrocution when they come in contact with water. Guess I already know what could defeat the Nightmares if one, or more, of them tried to kill me._

_But again, coming from my paranoid mind, what if they can withstand water? _

_Am I supposed to burn them with fire? _

_What else could I use?_

_If these robots truly are real, I'll need to know their weaknesses. Seems like the only strength they have--just guessing--is their methods of causing fear to humans. Murdering people, too, seems to be another thing they enjoy._

_Aside of all that, I am starting to think about staying with Michael and Matthew from now on. If Nightmare Foxy, or his friends also if they're with him, reaches towards the two boys, I want to make sure I'm there to protect them. I'll especially protect Matthew, since he's been through fearful events already, supposedly with Michael bullying him._

_All of these events seem unreal to me, and they're happening so fast. Will I be able to sleep the rest of my life? I'm not sure, but I know I'll try to warn the public somehow. I'll have to start small first. If no one believes what I'm trying to say, that's fine, but I do want to make sure that everyone stays safe."_


	9. Chapter 9

Matthew sat on his bed and played with some of his toys to get his mind off his brother. He placed the plushies aside, setting them on the ground in the corner of his room, and focused on the other toys he rarely played with. He had a fake rotary phone in his lap, and he plucked his fingers at the rotating circle that had holes in it. Matthew sighed and set the phone down on his bed.

"I just can't have fun anymore," he told himself and grabbed his Fredbear plush, which was the only plushie he didn't place in the corner of his bedroom. "Michael really has upset me so much."

The plush just sat in his lap silently.

Matthew hugged it tightly. "But you'll keep me safe, right? You'll always do?"

It didn't say anything.

"I believe in you. I do feel protected when I hold you."

He began to have tears run down his face, but he immediately wiped them away. Matthew jumped down from his bed, his Fredbear plush still in his arms, and walked towards the left door of his bedroom. Before he could fully open the door, someone in a fox mask jumped out at him, causing him to fall on the ground and burst into more tears.

"Ha, I scared you, little man!" Michael took off the mask and laughed. "Look at you cry like a pussy!"

Matthew continued to cry from fear.

"Now, hush up, you baby! I got you some food while I was out. It's on the kitchen counter if you want it; if you don't, it's all mine." Michael turned to walk away from Matthew. "I know you're starving, so just grab the food, okay? When you come out to get it, I'll be in the living room. Don't even try to look at me, because I don't want to see your pathetic face."

His little brother looked up as he moved away from his room. Matthew dried more of his tears and slowly stood up.

"M-Michael..." he called from the end of the dark hallway.

Michael stared back at him. "What?"

"T-Thank you."

His older brother smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Matthew ran down the hallway and went towards the kitchen. As he reached that room, he saw a plastic bag with the Fredbear's Family Diner logo on it. The top of the bag was curled up, as Michael probably wanted the food to stay warm. The smell of freshly made food filled Matthew's nose, and he smiled, desperately wanting to eat.

"You want it or not?" Michael asked, standing behind his little brother. 

Matthew never looked back at him. "Y-Yes, I do."

"Then eat it!" Michael exclaimed. "I paid for that, so you better not waste it!"

Matthew ran up to the bag and grabbed it off the counter. "I'll...I'll eat my room if you don't want...me around."

"Go ahead, you baby. I don't care what you do. Also, Mom and Dad ain't here to stop you."

The little brother ran back to his room and sat on his bed, opening the bag up. He was shocked that, despite Michael bullying him, his favorite kind of food was found inside. Matthew thought that Michael would've gotten him something he'd hate, but he didn't.

Matthew took a few minutes to eat the food that Michael got for him. Any unexpected messes he made, he picked them up right away off the floor. After he picked them up, Matthew placed his trash in the bag and went out to the kitchen to throw it away in the garbage.

He looked over at Michael, who was sitting on the couch and drinking one of his beers. Although he threw one on the ground, Matthew noticed that his brother was oblivious to the one broken bottle. The child looked down and saw the beer bottle lying on the kitchen floor, the crack still the same size as before when Matthew threw it on the ground. 

He smiled at the broken bottle and went back to his bedroom, where he remained under his bed sheets the rest of the evening.

* * *

Later that night, Grace reread the journal entry that she had written from a few hours ago. She felt her heart race once she read the part about the supposedly real animatronics, the ones that she called "Nightmares," and immediately closed the journal in shock. The journal she held made a loud pounding sound once it was closed, and Grace flinched from the sudden noise.

She put the journal on her nightstand next to her bed and laid down on the top of her covers. She began to think deeply to sum up her theory about who has been murdering innocent people.

"If there are more animatronics than just Foxy, then there are four of them, counting Foxy," Grace whispered to herself. "The calls the 911 operators are receiving happen between 12 and six AM, so if the killings are between those hours, that must be when the robots are active. Supposedly over 30 people are dead or missing, but these were just reported incidents. These animatronics must be killing at least five or more people per night. Either they are working together, or they are working independently to kill these people. It'd be faster if all of them worked together, because of how easy it'd be to trap someone, just to wait for that perfect moment to kill."

She sighed and leaned her head back against the bed's headboard, overwhelmed by all the information she was trying to get together. Grace reached over towards her nightstand and grabbed her phone, which was sitting upright and had the speakers pointed up at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, she dialed Michael's phone number and soon placed the phone up to her ear. 

She was scared of her own theory about whoever was murdering people around the town. Grace hopefully thought that, with her trusting her own boyfriend, he would listen to whatever she had going on in her mind, even if it was something crazy.

The phone rang a few times until a tired and hoarse, "Hello," echoed through the speaker. Grace smiled, happy to hear Michael's voice.

"Michael, it's me. Before I talk to you about something, were you sleeping? I hope I didn't wake you up. I see it's past 11 at night--" She glanced at her alarm clock. "--and I know you've been awake this late, but I just didn't know this time."

"Oh, no, Grace," he replied. "You didn't do such a thing. I'm just sitting in my living room and watching some TV. The little man is asleep right now, last I checked. Also, he was hungry--and he was really hungry from hardly eating at all--but I managed to get him some food from Fredbear's. I bet that food helped calm his hunger and made him sleep better. You know, it's a fact that if you literally have an empty stomach, you may not fall asleep as fast. I was just doing him a favor, and I hope he catches up on eating. His sleep is important, too."

Grace nodded her head. "Such a nice thing you did for him."

"It was worth it. Hey, I mean, I just fear for him. I don't know what is causing him to not eat, but I wanted to help out."

She hesitated for a few seconds. "Listen, babe, I hate to switch the subject so quickly, but I wanted to talk to you about something. It sounds super crazy, but you're my boyfriend, and I hope you're willing to listen to me."

"I love crazy things! What is it?"

"Michael, I know how you are. I'm serious about this thing, that I want to mention, being 'crazy.' You need to actually be willing to hear what I have to say and tell me what you think. You have to be honest."

"I promise, I won't judge you or lie to you. What do you have to say to me?"

Grace took another deep breath, feeling nervous about what her boyfriend would say to her. "I can't guarantee this, but uh--well, you know the stories of what's been happening around town?"

"All those people getting murdered and their bodies not being found? It's all over town, Grace. Some people are already putting their homes up for sale because of the fear of becoming a victim. That murderer is a sneaky fella, and he ain't stopping."

"I know about all that, but look, I may know who is causing these murders. Again, I can't guarantee it, but it's just a theory I have."

"Playing detective, huh? Nice!" Michael laughed. "Anyways, who is murdering these people?"

Grace refused to speak right away a second time, as the fear she felt was gradually increasing. "I don't think the murderer is human. Look at it this way, babe: they're not leaving any signs of a murder, although the only thing neighbors catch is a nearby victim screaming from being attacked. Whoever is also killing people around town is extremely quick and quiet; that's practically some superhuman stuff right there, if you think about it."

"Who is this...'thing' then?"

"Well, I think there may be more of them." She felt her hands shaking from nervousness. "You may think I was just seeing things, but I...I saw one of the Freddy Fazbear's animatronics from this early morning after I left your house. It was Foxy; you know, he's the pirate fox animatronic that hides out a lot in his cove. It wasn't his original counterpart, though; it was a more terrifying version of himself, almost as if he was remade to purposely scare people. I don't fear the original Freddy Fazbear's animatronics, but I know this one was too scary to look at when I saw him."

"The hell? What do you mean you saw him?"

"He was just walking up my street. It was around two in the morning when I encountered him roaming around my neighborhood. Scared for my life, I went to hide under my bed, and eventually, I listened to one of my neighbors getting murdered, and I was too terrified to call for help. You know that Abigail chick from school? I heard her scream, as if she was in trouble. I think that Foxy killed her."

Michael remained silent for a moment. "Is...is that what happened? You sure you weren't dreaming or something?"

"I'm serious, babe. I wish I was dreaming, but I was fully awake."

"What did you also say about there being more than one? Is Freddy and his whole gang out to kill us? I doubt this really happened, Grace. Please, baby, whatever you do, just sleep. I think with you being wide awake at night to see me has messed with your mind. A lack of sleep can really do nasty things to you."

Grace noticed she was getting angry, but she tried not to make it obvious. "You think I'm crazy? Michael, what makes you think that?"

"Just in my opinion, there is no way that some vicious animatronics are out to kill people. Go hunt for these things all you want, but I don't believe in them. I still think whoever is killing innocent people is no machine or something. As a fact, Grace, human killers can be very sneaky, too."

"I get that, but...wait a second. Did I tell you about the little girl I saw when I was coming back home?"

"From what I recall, no. What little girl are you talking about?"

Grace felt a little bit of nausea building up as she thought about the dead little girl. "I came across a lifeless body of what was a five or six-year-old girl. I'm sure that whatever killed her wasn't human, and I say that because her hair was ripped out of her scalp, her eyes were ripped out of her sockets, her body looked as if it had been stabbed multiple times, and...and...it was just a graphic scene. Let me ask: do you know anyone who has enough strength to pull something out of a person's body?"

Michael didn't say anything right away. "A dead little girl? Did you really find her like that? That's definitely some graphic shit right there."

"Do you know anyone who can pull hair, eyes, or something out of a person's body?" Grace repeated, ignoring his comments.

"No, I don't. Why ask?"

"Then whoever killed her has some strength that most humans can't have. There's clearly a nonhuman thing--or things--out there, and that incident backs up my theory."

"Alright, fine, Grace. Maybe there is some animatronic, or more of them, out to kill people, but I still think that it's ridiculous for some vicious robots to be murdering everyone."

"So, babe, you believe me or not?"

Michael sighed. "I don't know. I was saying that something could be out there, but I find it impossible for that 'something' to be a robot. What is this--we in some sci-fi movie?"

Grace shook her head. "I don't care about whatever is out there; I'm still following what the cops advised us to do."

"Secure our homes? You know that never stopped the killer. How about we stay together? I'll be glad to gain a gun license, so when I'm at your house or you're at mine, I can shoot this murderer and protect you."

"I don't think a gun will stop him." Grace grabbed her journal again and looked through the entry again that she wrote from earlier. "If something does happen, I'll come to you, and since these murders happen starting in less than an hour, I am staying up all night. I really hope you stay up, too, because I don't want you and Matthew killed."

"Are you going to sleep at all later?"

Grace set the journal by her side. "I didn't think about that. I might just sleep until 11 in the morning and get ready to go to work after that. I may get a quick nap before midnight on the same day, too, when I come home from work. Even if I come across killer machines, I'll still try to live my life like normal. Well, actually, if they're real, I'll just quit my job; it's not worth going through such scary events and then trying to live life as if none of that happened."

"Why are you staying up tonight, though? Get some decent sleep! I'm securing my house, but I definitely think that the little man and I will be okay. Please, stop worrying. You'll be fine, babe, honestly."

Grace breathed deeply in fear. "Michael, it's better to be awake and avoiding death, rather than falling asleep and knowing you'll never wake up again. Do the same thing, too! Just please listen to me!"

"Personally, I'm okay, and Matthew is fine, too. I'll watch him tonight in case something happens, but I doubt we'll be victims with our house locked up."

She felt herself almost crying. "Fine, but if something does happen to you, don't say I never warned you. Now, I need to get ready for tonight, because I don't know if I'm the next victim or not. Whether you believe in these robots or not, all I'm gonna say is...stay safe, babe."

* * *

Once his alarm clock struck midnight, Matthew watched as it moved from "11:59" to "12:00." He, hiding underneath his bed sheets, cuddled his Fredbear plush to get more of that feeling of security just from the small plushie. Matthew blinked a few times and rolled over onto his other side, trying to find a comfortable sleep position.

"Fredbear, will you help me sleep?" he asked, tightly wrapping his arms around the plush. "Michael scares me. I don't think I can sleep again because of him."

The plush remained silent.

"You make me feel safe. I think that's all that matters right now."

Matthew smiled and took a few deep breaths, trying to make himself relax. Eventually feeling a sensation of calmness, he slowly closed his eyes, and every part of his body became less tense. He drifted off into a deep sleep for a short time.

The thing that woke him up was the sound of pounding on the wall, and the noise was coming from the end of one of the hallways. Matthew quickly sat up in his bed and reached to turn on the lamp on his nightstand, but it wouldn't turn on. Confused, he fiddled with the switch a few times, even checking if it was plugged in, but it still wouldn't come on.

Matthew walked to his left bedroom door and peeked out of it. He tiredly called out for Michael, but there was no response. As he tried to possibly get his older brother's attention, he kept staring down the dark hallway, but nothing was in his sight.

One thing that happened made his heart practically stop, though, and Matthew nearly screamed from what he saw.

His eyes eventually met with purple glowing eyes. Frozen in fear, he attempted to stay silent and not make any other noise. After a long moment of meeting eyes with this strange entity, the glowing eyes moved further down the hallway, and what Matthew saw made him feel more terrified.

A scarier version of Bonnie was standing in the middle of the hallway, tilting his head as he kept his eyes on Matthew's. The robotic bunny looked as if he was going to attack any moment. In desperation, Matthew ran back to his bed and hid underneath his sheets, unsure about what to do without his brother there to help.


	10. Chapter 10

From what felt like an hour, Matthew remained hidden underneath his bed sheets, fearful of what he'd expect next after meeting eyes with a terrifying animatronic. He curled up with his Fredbear plush secured in his arms. He felt himself shaking from terror, and he kept mumbling words softly to his plush.

"W-What was that?" he asked it quietly. "W-What's B-Bonnie doing i-in my house?"

The door that Matthew was by creaked open slowly, and he heard the loud breathing of an animatronic behind that very door. Nightmare Bonnie clutched the door knob and forcefully pulled it open, soon letting out what sounded like a glitchy growling sound. He eventually fell silent and walked into the room, searching for any sign of Matthew.

Matthew listened as the animatronic went into his room and tried his best not to scream. He held his plush tighter, with his arms still around it, and squinched his eyes shut. He felt his heart pounding in both his chest and his head, waiting for this strange robot to pull the bed sheets off him and murder him. 

Nightmare Bonnie walked around the entire room and tried to find Matthew, but he could not find him anywhere. The animatronic was oblivious to the small bump being made in Matthew's bed, which was actually the poor, terrified child hiding away with his plush. The horrifying Bonnie counterpart stopped walking and took one last glance around the room before walking back out in the hallway.

Matthew heard him leave the bedroom, but he double checked to make sure Nightmare Bonnie left for good. He listened carefully for any sounds in the left hallway, but once hearing nothing, he revealed himself from underneath his sheets and looked back at the door. Matthew began to hyperventilate from being scared, and his heart started to beat even faster.

He went over to the lamp he had on his nightstand, and he pulled down on the switch, but no light came on. Matthew checked behind to see if the lamp was plugged in, and to his surprise, it was. 

"I know that light bulb was recently changed," he told the Fredbear plush, which was now sitting on top of his bed sheets. "I also know all these bulbs we use are good. How can this one go out so soon? Let me check the other lights."

Matthew grabbed the plush and walked over to the right door, slowly opening it to see if he saw anything in the hallway. Nothing it was empty, he snuck out of the bedroom and went towards the bathroom.

He reached the door and pressed his hand against it, letting it to open without him actually touching the door knob. The bathroom door fully allowed Matthew enough space to enter the room without blocking his way. He sighed and reached for the light switch, without entering the room, but upon fiddling with it, the light in the bathroom never turned on either.

Matthew played with the light switch more, but the one bulb in the bathroom never showed a single blip of light. Confused, he kept messing with the switch, but the light bulb still never turned on. He soon gave up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"I hope I'm not dreaming," Matthew said to the plush. "I'm pretty sure me seeing Bonnie never happened; there is no way it was real. I'll make sure I'm not dreaming at all."

He sat the plush on the counter and placed his hand on the sink's left handle, pulling it towards him. The water came rushing out of the faucet once Matthew cranked it up to the highest setting. He cupped his hands underneath the hot water and splashed the water in his face.

Matthew looked back up and stared at himself in the mirror. He was surrounded by complete darkness, but he managed to see the outline of his face. Although he couldn't see every feature of his facial appearance, he could tell that his face had dripping water everywhere. He also felt the steaming hot water running down on it.

"That at least feels better," he whispered and picked the Fredbear plush back up. "I'm starting to think that I was just seeing things."

Matthew gripped the plush around one of his arms and opened the bathroom door back up. He looked both ways down the hall, in case something was out there, and moved towards the kitchen.

The light in the kitchen never worked either, despite Matthew trying multiple times. At this point, he knew that the entire house was out of power, but with him being a kid, he didn't know how to turn all the lights back on.

"I fear the dark," he told his plush. "I am worried that some monster will come and get me--no! What am I saying? Monsters aren't real; they're just in my head! Mom and Dad always said they don't exist, and I must remember that! I'm a strong boy; I know I can handle the dark!"

Matthew still felt a hint of fear after convincing himself he was brave and tough. He thought that the sight of the animatronic he saw was real and not something he would imagine. He knew he was awake and not dreaming, but he tried to tell himself that seeing and hearing Nightmare Bonnie was not really happening.

Matthew eventually heard the same growling sound that he recognized from earlier, and he quickly glanced around the kitchen to find the source of the strange noise. Remaining silent, he stood there, waiting for whoever was making the sound to show themselves. 

The growl sounded deep and was glitching as the terrifying noise was being made. It had a mix of an actual animal growl and bits of a robotic effect to it. As it rang out in the kitchen, Matthew knew that the sound of it did not seem friendly, and he immediately rushed out of the room.

He found himself back in his bedroom, shaking even more from what he just heard in the kitchen. He closed both of his doors, the left being the first, and backed up from the second one he shut. Matthew quickly turned his head towards his closet and closed that door as well, fearing that something would show up in there. The two sides of the door now covered the inside view of the closet, and the other two bedroom doors also shut the hallways out of sight.

Matthew held onto his plush tightly, its hand holding Matthew's. The petrified child, who was now feeling like passing out from fear, quickly walked back to his bed and laid down on it, trying to calm himself down.

"I'm...I'm seeing things," he said to himself. "Everything...is not real. That creepy robot I saw earlier...wasn't real."

Matthew noticed that his breathing was slowing down, followed by his heart rate. He closed his eyes and tried his best to get his mind off of what he encountered outside his bedroom and in the kitchen from earlier. The image of the animatronic in his head eventually was cleared, and he found himself focusing on more positive thoughts.

As he relaxed more, he laid the Fredbear plush on his chest. Matthew opened his eyes back up and smiled at the sight of the plush, feeling the safety and security of his inanimate friend as it kept staring at him. He wrapped his arms around it and tightly hugged it.

Matthew felt himself almost drifting off into a deep sleep when a sudden noise woke him up, and he knew that sound was familiar; it was the kind of growl he heard while walking around the kitchen. It was the same hostile, evil sounding noise that made his heart beat faster than normal.

He quickly sat up in his bed and glanced around the room, desperately trying to figure out where the growl was coming from. His room was empty, though, and there was no sign of any monster or other creature that was supposedly lurking in the darkness. With nothing in his sight, Matthew began to think that he was also hearing things, but with him being paranoid, he wasn't too sure.

He wanted to call out to whatever was making this growling noise, but he was too terrified to even say one word. Matthew kept looking around his bedroom, still finding the source of this mysterious sound, but there was still nothing that popped up in front of him.

After a couple minutes of the growl appearing and disappearing constantly, Matthew finally found some words.

"M-Michael, are you t-there?" he asked out loud, stuttering from fear. "I-I know that it's y-you. Don't p-play with me."

No response for a few seconds.

Once Matthew began to talk, the growl stopped, but it started again not too long after. As it came back, it grew louder and longer and eventually fell into silence. There was no other growling sounds after that, leaving Matthew to think that he was just hallucinating. 

"It's...it's not there! Everything I'm seeing or hearing is not real!"

Matthew jumped off his bed and kept looking around his room, but a thought soon came into his mind. In shock, he widened his eyes and turned back to look at his bed, feeling his heart race more as he did so. He slowly knelt down and lifted up the end of his bed sheets, taking a peek at the underside his bed.

He blinked a few times to make his eyes focus on the pitch black darkness underneath his bed. He rubbed his eyes roughly to help his vision clear up, as he was feeling dizzy from the stress and fear he was experiencing.

Matthew noticed that something was actually under his bed. He tried his best not to scream when he saw it, and while staying silent, he quickly backed away from his bed.

"No! You're not real!" he exclaimed. "You're just in my head!"

What he saw was a pair of orange glowing eyes that had opened and peered at Matthew threateningly. The same growl that the child heard a few times came from the same place the eyes were at. 

"It's...not there," Matthew whispered. "There's no one there."

The growl, this time, sounded louder and angrier, and it made Matthew jump back again in fear. It sounded just like something an animal would make, but some parts of a robotic glitch were visible in the sound, like what Matthew heard when he was in the kitchen.

"No, you're not real!" he repeated quietly. "You're not real! You're not real! I swear, you're not real!"

A second set of deep, animal-like growls came from under the bed, and whatever was making the sound still appeared as if it was filled with rage. Eventually, a metallic brown hand with claws popped out from underneath the bed and curled up its fingers against the carpet. The claws looked so sharp that even a mark would appear if it was brushed against human skin very lightly. A quieter growl was last heard before the hand went back under the bed.

Matthew was looking down the whole time. "Um, who is that? Why are you in my house?"

The thing that was under his bed didn't reply.

"I said, why are in my house?" he yelled at the strange animatronic.

No response.

"I know you're there! Don't act like I never saw you!"

Silence.

Matthew stood in place for a few minutes, until he heard the near deafening noise of the front door bursting open. The sound of the door knob hit the wall once it swung open. Not knowing who it was, Matthew went back on his bed and sat on it, hugging his Fredbear plush close to him.

He continued to sit there, expecting whoever was busting in the house to come and attack him, but a familiar female voice suddenly rang out.

"Matthew? You here?"

The child was shocked and relieved once he recognized the voice. "Grace? I'm in my room!"

There was sound of running coming down from the right hallway, and Matthew ran to the door, waiting for her to come to him. He couldn't see where she was exactly, due to the rooms being very dark, but he could tell she was close from her footsteps.

"Wait, where are you? I can't see at all!" Grace was near his room, but she wasn't exactly by him. "Do you have a flashlight somewhere?"

"In the top kitchen drawer by the fridge!" Matthew called out. "It better be working! I really hate the dark!"

He heard her move towards the kitchen, and she quickly went through the drawer that Matthew told her to go through. He listened as the drawer closed, and he also heard the sound of a button being pressed; a light flickered on from the end of the hallway shortly afterwards.

The light came closer to him, and Matthew smiled, feeling excited that someone was with him.

Grace walked towards his room and stopped once she was right in front of him. Without saying anything right away, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"What are you doing, Grace?" Matthew asked, not hugging her back. 

"What do you mean?" She stopped hugging him and looked at him closely. "I'm making sure you're alright."

Matthew hesitated, not knowing whether Grace knew about the animatronics or not. "I'm fine. I am a bit scared because of my brother, but yeah, I'm good."

"No, Matthew. That's not what I am here for."

Those words alerted Matthew. "What are you doing here then?"

"How long have you been here?" Grace asked nervously. "I don't think your brother is home, based off every room I was just in. Are you hurt? Do I need to send you to the hospital? Oh, God, I hope they didn't come here."

Matthew blinked a few times. "Grace?"

The 18-year-old found herself going into a panic attack. "They didn't lay a finger on you, did they? I don't want them hurting you!"

"What's wrong?" 

"You should know what's wrong! There are murderous animatronics on the loose--at least I think there are!"

The terrified child didn't find any words to say.

"Are you hurt, Matthew?" Grace repeated. "Please tell me!"

"Y-You know about them?" Matthew asked, surprised. "So, I am not dreaming then."

Grace started to burst into tears. "Matthew! I don't want you hurt! Answer me! Are you, or are you not?"

He shook his head at her. "I have seen them, but they never tried to get near me."

"Are you sure?" She lifted up his arms to check for any possible scratches or bruises. "Oh, okay. You sure you're not hurt? That's a relief."

"I'm confused. What's going on, Grace? Who are these weird animatronics in my house?"

Grace widened her eyes. "They're...they're here?"

"I mean, I saw what looked like scarier versions of Bonnie and, I guess, Freddy, but those two were it."

"Well, you're in for a surprise, because I saw Foxy when leaving your house the night before. I witnessed him walking up my street behind my own home. There is obviously more than one of them...it seems like." She tried to catch her breath from her short panic attack. "They're really here, though? Why didn't you do anything?"

"I've never seen the Freddy characters in my house! I don't know what to do!"

Grace looked around to see if any animatronics would jump out at them, and she turned back towards Matthew. "You need to listen to what I have to say, Matthew, but first, we need to get out of here for tonight!"

"Why?"

"Do you want to die or not? It's not safe here!"

He kept staring at her, confused about everything going on at once. "W-What do y-you mean? I-I don't know what's h-happening, Grace."

She grabbed onto his arm and tugged it. "I don't want you alone here! We must leave this hellish place! Now!"

"But I don't get..."

Grace raised her voice. "I said now!"


	11. Chapter 11

Michael stood outside a local bar, drinking one of the alcoholic drinks he brought from home. His one friend, Ethan, was with him, standing next to him and going through multiple sticks of cigarettes. Joshua and Noah, Michael's other friend, were going to meet up with the two, but Michael thought they were taking too long.

He groaned from boredom and took a sip of his drink. "Where are they? Didn't I call them...15 minutes ago? They said they would be here in less time."

Ethan held tightly onto his Freddy mask by his side. "I don't know, but I'm having fun chilling with you." He dropped his cigarette and placed the mask over his head. "Will the girls love it if I wear this? I'm tempted to go in this bar and pick one up with this thing on."

Michael laughed. "You actually look ridiculous with that mask on! You think that'll work?"

"Shut the fuck up! You also look crazy with your Foxy mask!"

"At least my mask looks decent when it's on." Michael chuckled again. "Also, why go in there? Your 21st birthday is not too far away, so you'll be allowed to drink."

"My birthday is not too far away, so I'll be allowed to drink...says the one-year-younger-than-me guy holding a beer bottle." Ethan rolled his eyes and took off his mask. 

"I don't care which age I drink. I'm an adult, and I know better."

"So am I!"

"Oh, congratulations." Michael smiled at his friend. "Thanks for letting me know."

Ethan angrily threw his pack of cigarettes in a trash can. "Man, I love you like a brother, but your smartass remarks annoy me sometimes. Cut it out!"

Michael took another sip of his drink and sighed. "Can't take a joke? Learn how to."

"Whatever, dude. I don't joke around all the time, so me taking one isn't likely. You know this, and you don't need to judge me for my low sense of humor."

"Chill out! Let's just have a fun night, alright?"

More moments passed by, and Joshua and Noah were not in the two boys' sights. Michael grew more impatient as every minute went by, and he complained to himself about them being late without letting words escape his mouth. He walked away from the entrance door of the bar and smashed his now empty beer bottle against the wall. Bits of glass flew everywhere, and Michael jumped back to avoid getting cut.

He felt one piece hit his arm, and the corner of the glass slightly cut it. Michael began to shake his arm, trying to get the pain to go away.

Ethan shook his head in confusion. "You're stupid. What did you expect glass to do to you?"

Michael stopped moving his arm. "I don't care about a small cut. I wanted to get rid of my bottle somehow, so smashing and breaking it was the first thing I thought of. The employees here will clean up my mess; they're paid to do so, and it's not my problem."

His friend glared at him. "Technically, it's your responsibility, but fine."

Michael scratched the top of his head and frowned. "Was worth breaking the bottle into pieces anyway. My girlfriend has been telling me unbelievable stuff that has been driving me insane. I had to let some of that negative stuff out."

"What unbelievable stuff? Is it good or bad?"

"Am I supposed to answer that? It's just...crazy."

"Is it good or bad?" Ethan asked again.

"You already asked that! Now, shut up!" Michael crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "She's been talking about people around town being killed and their bodies being hidden where no one can find them."

"It's real, though." Ethan pulled his lighter out of his pocket and turned it on and off constantly for fun. "Don't you watch the news? The morning news lady has been appearing in front of multiple homes in the past week, talking about the same thing. We have three local news channels, and all three currently have this issue as one of their top stories. You should pay more attention to these channels; you'll be informed more.

"Remember the dead five-year-old girl that the police found?" he continued. "She's been identified as Sarah Carter; that is really her name. I do not know her, but it's terrible what happened to her; she was brutally killed in a way that I think no person could murder someone. The police think it was some vicious animal or something, but they're not too sure. I mean, there was no sign of a person's DNA anywhere near or on Sarah."

Michael looked over at him. "Grace said she found a dead little girl. Was that her? How was she found?"

"Sarah had her eyes and hair pulled out. She was stabbed many times in different places on her body. I think she was also found laying in the middle of the road." Ethan covered his mouth, sickened by the thought of what Sarah appeared like from the details he mentioned. "I know she's gone, but the poor girl was left in the rain. It was heavily raining out when the cops found her body."

"You said that no DNA was found? How?"

"I don't know. Whoever killed her was very sneaky and intelligent."

Michael grinned at him. "I must say that the girl's murderer is definitely some stealthy dude. If they really left no trace of DNA, that's crazy of them. It's actually impossible to successfully hide their identity like that, and it seems like it requires talent. Now, this is just a scenario, but if I was some murderer, I doubt I would be able to escape the cops. If I happened to actually kill someone, my fingerprints would stay near or on the victim for sure." He shrugged his shoulders. "Unless whoever killed Sarah was an animal instead, yet I think there would be a piece of hair or something somewhere."

"Like I said, the police aren't too sure. They're not familiar with animals around here that could kill a human like that. If there was some animal, it must have been rabid or something." Ethan stood against the wall next to his friend. "In your opinion, who do you think killed her?"

"I'm not sure, but you don't want to hear what Grace believes. The crazy bitch thinks some 'vicious animatronics' are out to kill us." Michael laughed. "That just sounds like something found in a movie, but this is real life. She's been so sleep deprived, as she hasn't been sleeping a lot lately, that I don't think she knows what she says to me."

"Animatronics? What does she mean by that?"

"Apparently, Grace thinks that scarier versions of the Freddy characters are sent out in between 12 and six AM to murder anyone they come across. It's absolutely insane, and I'm not saying that as a good thing. Do you agree that it's crazy?"

Ethan hesitated for a moment. "I don't know, Michael. I'm siding with neither her or you. I'm as confused as your girlfriend is. I just...I'm not sure at this point."

"Well, even if these terrifying 'animatronics' are real, I know that they won't come from the pizzeria or some other family-friendly place, since Grace says they're too scary to look at. If they really exist, some mentally unstable guy probably built them to murder people. Either way, I just find all of this a bunch of nonsense."

"Hate to switch the subject, but Grace is your girlfriend, though. Do you always need to be a jerk to her? I love you, man--not saying that in a...certain way--but you're too rough with her. Chill out and show her some respect. When I fall in love and get married, there is no way that I am treating my girl like she's nothing."

Michael sighed. "I truly love her. There are some times where I just get grumpy and act mean. I don't intend on doing it, though."

"Then you should lose that grumpiness of yours."

The 19-year-old chuckled. "I'm trying my hardest, man. I'm really trying to be a good guy."

"Lies. Don't lie to me; I hate that."

"I know what I'm saying!" Michael rolled his eyes at his friend. "Can we please just talk about what Grace is so obsessed about? There are still a couple of thoughts I have about it."

Ethan shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Whatever."

"Thank you. Anyways, with all these people suddenly being murdered and their bodies disappearing, I think it would make sense if something is going after them. The only thing that is confusing, though, that these supposedly self-aware robots are programmed to kill humans. I get that our society is on the rise in technology, but I haven't heard of machines that are this professionally made, that is...if they're real.

"Let me ask you this: how are they so sneaky and quiet during the nighttime hours? I have never heard of any robots that can do that. If Grace is right about these killer machines, whoever made them is the next top robotic expert, because that's some next level stuff. That's why I say, they seem to be too good to be true."

"What if they are true?" Ethan asked. "Would you fight for your life then if they're so vicious towards people?"

"In that case, probably." Michael laughed again. "Well, it would be kind of cool if they were real. Think about it: it would be a wild time to be chased down by animatronics. The things are pathetic, though; I mean, they're just animatronics!"

Ethan faked a cough. "Self-aware animatronics, like you said, retard."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it's official; you don't know what you're thinking." The friend walked away from the bar's outside wall. "I don't know about you, but I'm kind of interested in this stuff. Grace says that they roam between midnight and six AM? It's almost 12:30. I think they may be out already."

Michael gave him a face that easily said, "What the hell are you thinking?"

Ethan knew what he was thinking just from his face. "Didn't you and Grace promise each other that you both wouldn't judge one another, even if something sounded ridiculous? You've broken that promise; such a shame, you douche. Real or not, I'm siding with her at this point, because you never know if she's actually right."

"Alright, you do your idiotic thing. I'm heading home, because I'm exhausted, and the other two guys obviously aren't showing up." Michael began to walk away from his friend.

"What? Finding out if these robots are real is not idiotic; it's interesting!" Ethan called out. "Also, our friends may just be late! Are you seriously that impatient?"

Michael did not listen to him, and he continued towards his car. Upon being just a few feet from the two-door vehicle, he spotted a scratch on the side of it; he could easily tell from one of the flickering lights of the bar. Michael sighed, feeling angry, and walked closer to his car, only to see more scratches. 

He took a closer peek at what the scratches were, seeing if they were just marks made by another car bumping against his, or if a person somehow carved words into the car's material. With the bar's light shining on one part of the car, Michael was able to fully see what was on it, despite the darkness outside making it hard to tell within a second.

There were words marked onto his car that said, "_Pathetic? Is that what you think of us? What do you think about being next_?" The words were spelled as if whoever wrote them had broken English; some words--even the shortest ones--were spelled with one letter missing, one unnecessary letter added in them, or were spelled incorrectly overall.

Michael stared at his car in shock and immediately ran back to Ethan, seeing if he could catch a ride from him. At this point, he was too afraid to enter his own vehicle.


	12. Chapter 12

"**July 4th, 1983**

**5:28 am**

_Fuck! We're in deep trouble--Matthew and I are! _

_Just a few hours ago, the animatronics, that I called 'Nightmares' before, came out at midnight to do their daily killing spree. Beforehand, I thought I was the only one that believed they existed, but Matthew claimed to have seen them, too. Although we're in a deadly situation here, I'm actually glad that someone understands what I have been seeing._

_Like the one night I snuck out to see Michael, I quietly left my house, right when it became 12 am, to go see if Matthew was alright. I managed to sneak into my parents' room to steal the keys for the car I have been borrowing from them for a while. I drove the car over to the Afton household and was surprised to find Matthew home alone, with these horrific, monstrous animatronics terrorizing him._

_I rushed to his room after finding a flashlight to see if he was hurt in any way. My inner paranoid motherly instincts told me that I had to ask him multiple questions and to be feeling fearful until I knew for sure that he was okay. I haven't known the child for long, but I've been clearly looking out for him as if I was already his true mother._

_Once he confirmed that he wasn't hurt, he told me which animatronics he saw; he claimed to have seen Nightmare Bonnie and Freddy. The strange looking robotic bunny snuck his way into Matthew's room and almost went for him, if the animatronic did somehow find him, but he was safely hidden under his bed sheets. Nightmare Freddy, though, just hung out underneath the bed, and he apparently teased Matthew--by revealing one of his sets of claws--just to make the poor kid even more scared of what he was seeing._

_Luckily, I came to the house at the right time before those Nightmares could actually hurt Matthew. It seems as if my presence made them hide, like they wanted Matthew to themselves, as they probably saw him as the perfect target for killing without having an adult around to protect him._

_What if I actually never came in time? What if I found him dead, but if he was, what if his dead body was gone? Would Michael even care? According to Matthew, Michael would not care about anything that could possibly happen to his own little brother. I'm still not too sure who to believe._

_After I talked to Matthew for a bit and eventually demanded him to leave with me, I picked him up like he was a toddler, and he wrapped both arms around my neck and both legs around my waist. I placed my arms tightly, yet not too much, around him to securely hold him. Unlike an actual baby or toddler, he was a lot heavier, but I didn't care; I just wanted us to get out of the house._

_Before I could leave the room, though, I noticed a hand grab my ankle, and it became more constricting, as I felt the grip of the hand around my ankle became tighter. I realized that the hand belonged to Nightmare Freddy, as it was brown, and dark silver claws were attached on the top of where his fingers were. I shook my foot a few times as one method to break free, but he actually never let go. _

_'Get your hand off me, you creep!' I yelled at him. 'The hell did I do to you to make you so angry? Nothing, so you can kindly let me free!'_

_Nightmare Freddy ignored my comment and strengthened his grip even more around my ankle. This time, I saw his claws dig through my jeans, and the tips of them were right on my skin. He growled softly at me and kept his claws right on the top layer of my skin. _

_I started to think that he was testing me, like if I kept insulting him or making him more furious, he would just dig his claws deeper and begin to draw blood. I wasn't too sure if he was truly testing me, but it seemed like he was doing something along those lines, because I found it funny that he purposely didn't dig his claws into my skin right away after I said only one thing. It's almost like as if he was telling me, 'You keep speaking to me that way, I'll just make you suffer more pain.'_

_I set Matthew down on the ground and whispered to him to go get something, anything, that I could use to hit Nightmare Freddy's hand, just as a way to get him to let go off my ankle. Matthew nodded at me, grabbed the flashlight I used when trying to find him, and ran out of his bedroom._

_Meanwhile, I stood there in silence, feeling vulnerable to any other Nightmares that could have possibly roamed this house. Originally, I planned on fighting back to see if this scary Freddy counterpart would finally let go, but I didn't want to risk being unintentionally cut by his claws. I also did not want to infuriate him even more to the point where he would actually began to draw blood. With his grip still on my leg, I carefully backed myself up, sat on the bed, and waited for Matthew to return, hanging out there with an animatronic's hand still fastened around my ankle._

_I looked down at my feet and laid my eyes on the one being grabbed._

_'How's life down there?' I jokingly asked, trying to cheer myself up, though I still had a bit of fear on the inside._

_Nightmare Freddy only exhaled through his mouth in response. _

_I was able to hear his loud breathing. 'I take it that you're enjoying it under his bed. Must be dark and cozy under there. You like the darkness?'_

_He remained silent._

_'I assume you do.'_

_I took a deep breath and grew more impatient as I kept waiting for Matthew. Every second felt like a minute, and my heart raced from being scared. I tried to stay as calm as possible, because I did not know if Nightmare Freddy, or his friends as well, could detect fear in any way._

_Matthew eventually came back to his room a couple minutes later with the flashlight in his hand and a baseball bat in the other._

_'I found this in the garage,' he said. 'Is this okay?'_

_'Anything will work,' I replied._

_I stood up, grabbed the bat from his hands, and carefully aimed it towards Nightmare Freddy's arm. I was about to swing it, but I started to worry that I would miss. I offered Matthew to do it._

_With shaky hands, he took it back and swung it down, hitting the animatronic's arm. Nightmare Freddy growled loudly with anger from the sudden feeling of something being hit against his arm. What we planned on doing was a stupid idea, though I originally never expected what they real result would be, because this made him even more furious with us._

_Nightmare Freddy's hand constricted around my ankle more, and I felt the tips of his claws make their way through my skin. The feeling of only the claws' tips digging through was the same feeling of being poked with a needle, except it seemed as if five 'needles' were digging into my skin. It wasn't painful, but I did flinch from the poking sensations. I also had gasped from the minor pain of his claws, but I tried to hold in the pain._

_It wasn't long until he unexpectedly loosened his grip around my ankle, allowing me to move it around easily. I quickly took my foot away from his hand and ran away from Matthew's bed._

_'Thank you.' I hugged Matthew and nervously laughed. 'I thought I would've hit myself on accident.'_

_'Can we please leave now? I don't want to be here.'_

_'Yeah, we can leave this terrifying place. Come on!'_

_Instead of picking up Matthew this time, I allowed him to hold my hand, and we just ran out the front door together. Little did I know that with Michael not being here at home with Matthew, there was no available car in the garage, and I realized that his older brother has taken his own during his night away from the house. Desperate and trying to think of ideas quickly, I stood along the side of the road, hoping for a passing car to help us._

_I kept looking back to see if any animatronics were coming after us. I noticed a pair of purple eyes peering through the window, but I couldn't tell who the animatronic was. Not even a minute passed by, and I already wanted to leave the area._

_'Matthew, I hate to say it, but we'll just have to make our own way to my house or some other safe place,' I reminded Matthew. 'We'll have to go on foot, unless we see a car.'_

_My hand was still holding Matthew's, and we began to run away from the house. There was no way we could safely stay there and wait for a car._

_'You probably hate running, but we'll be safe if we move,' I assured him. 'Standing around won't help our situation.'_

_We continued running for what felt like at least a mile, and Matthew started to slow down. He stood still next to me, letting go of my hand, and covered his chest with his left hand, breathing heavily. Without hesitation, I picked him back up and proceeded to make my way towards the busier areas of town. _

_At this point, I didn't know the way to my house. I was so terrified of becoming a victim to these vicious animatronics that I lost track of thought. It was sort of like that one day when I forgot the meetup location where my friends were, and I completely freaked out during that time just because of my shortened memory. I was overwhelmed at this moment that the only thing I focused on was getting to an area where the Nightmares would not go to._

_It wasn't until five minutes later, and just several feet from busier neighborhoods, when a police car suddenly drove next to us with its lights flashing but no sirens on. I began to stand still, and the car next to us pulled over by the street's curb, stopping as well._

_A policeman rolled down his window and asked if everything was okay._

_'I'm patrolling the neighborhoods after what has been happening around town this past week, just seeing if everything is alright,' he told us. 'You can just call me by my last name, Nelson, or you can add in the 'Officer' part in front of it if you want to. What's going on with you two?'_

_I sighed and set down Matthew. 'It's kind of an unbelievable story. I doubt you'd believe anything we have to say.'_

_'There ain't no reason to feel shame in telling an officer about any issue you have. I hear lots of crazy stuff in all my years of being a cop. What's the deal?'_

_'I'm serious. You would not believe us.' I crossed my arms and looked back for a second at the direction that we ran from. 'It has to do with these people around town getting killed, as I know who is murdering them.'_

_Nelson seemed to be interested immediately after I spoke. 'Do tell. I've been wanting to know all this time.'_

_'Well, can I give you...hints? I just...it'll sound crazy if I tell you right away.'_

_'Why beat around the bush?' He shook his head. 'Ah, whatever. Go ahead, sweetheart.'_

_I nervously stared down at Matthew, who also glanced back up at me with a fearful look. After a short moment, I laid my eyes back on the cop._

_'Let me say that there is more than one murderer.'_

_'How do you know? Did you just see more than one person in the act of killing someone?'_

_I laughed. 'Um, they aren't...people.'_

_Nelson frowned. 'They ain't humans? What are they then? Animals?'_

_'Kind of, I guess. They're more...robotic.' I groaned, not knowing what I was doing. 'Alright, I'll say it! There are scarier, more self-aware versions of the Freddy Fazbear's characters going around town. I'm starting to think that some crazy psychopath built them, because they obviously don't look friendly, and Fazbear Entertainment would never have robots as terrifying as they look._

_'The reason that I think those are the killers is because they're too stealthy and strong to be human,' I continued. 'Why do you think no one talks about them? Maybe it's because they're experts at staying hidden and out of most people's sights. Why do you think pretty much all of the murdered victims' bodies are not found? I know it's possible for human killers to hide bodies well, but I believe these animatronics do those kinds of things that I don't think even smart human criminals can attempt. _

_'I say that they're strong, too, as the only body that's ever been found was that Sarah Carter girl, but lots of her body parts were ripped out or stabbed. It would take actual tools for human killers to do the same thing to their victim, but the animatronics used their own hands and claws--yes, they have claws. I remember that even the image taken by other cops was too graphic for the news stations to put on TV.'_

_He was both surprised and confused. 'What? You sure about all that?'_

_'Yeah,' I replied. 'Look at this--one of them indented claw marks near my foot. Mind if I show you?'_

_'Uh, sure...um...what is your name?'_

_'Grace. Grace Thompson.'_

_'Alright, Miss Thompson. Show me.'_

_I lifted up the end of my jeans, and Nelson shined a flashlight on my foot. His eyes widened once he saw the five holes in my skin._

_'Miss...you've been dripping blood. I can see spots of it on your foot and shoe,' he said. 'Did you realize that?'_

_'I know. I just haven't had anything to dry off the blood. You have a tissue or something?'_

_'I think I have something like that you could use.' Nelson took the flashlight's light off my foot and reached over in the seat, searching for an item for me to use to dry off my leg. 'Ah shoot, I don't have anything.'_

_'You don't?'_

_Nelson looked back at me. 'Yes, I don't. Sorry.'_

_'It's fine. I'll just pick up a first aid kit or something.'_

_'Hold on! Why did I not think about this before? How stupid of me!' He chuckled. 'You're obviously needing medical attention from that injury...supposedly from those robots you mentioned. How about I transport you to the nearest ER?'_

_'I'm okay, Nelson,' I told him. 'One of the animatronics just poked a layer or two. I'm not gonna die.'_

_'Are you sure?'_

_I nodded my head at him. 'I'm positive, but I do need to go somewhere. Can I at least get a ride home, please? Both of us are on the run right now after encountering these killer machines. We need to be somewhere safer with adults around.'_

_Nelson hesitated, but after a couple of seconds, he smiled at us. 'Alright, no problem. Just get in the back. I'll take you home.'_

_After I entered his car, I directed him where to go. Hours later, I'm still at home, and I'm currently hiding underneath my bed sheets with Matthew. We're still in fear after what happened back at his house. It's not six AM yet, and the animatronics are still active; I hope we make it through the rest of the half hour._

_Also, I wasn't too sure what Nelson thought of me talking about these animatronics who are out to kill people. He was looking at me a few times like he thought I was crazy, but aside of that, he was a pretty nice and laid back guy. Whether he doesn't believe my story or not, I hope he mentions the Nightmares to the police. If not, I wouldn't refuse to do such a thing myself._

_As another thing, my injury from Nightmare Freddy hurts a bit like it did earlier. I can still feel the same poking sensation as I did when he dug his claws in my skin, but I think this was just my body reacting in a way to the puncture he made. The blood is under control, and I'm wearing a bandage around my ankle, as of now, that I put on by myself._

_Overall, I'm still terrified from earlier. I really wish all of this was just a dream, but I know this feels all too real."_


	13. Chapter 13

Grace sat up in her bed, uncovering the bed sheets from over her body, and she glanced around quickly. The big hand on her clock hit the one minute mark past the 12, reading "6:01 AM." With multiple deep breaths, she looked at Matthew, who was laying on her bed next to her and was facing away from her. She tapped on his shoulder and whispered to him.

"I think they're no longer active. It's all okay now, Matthew."

He stared up at her. "Why are they after us? What do they want?"

"They probably just want us dead," she told him. "I promise, though, that I won't let them get you."

Grace got from her bed and eventually met her reflection in the mirror. Her very short hair was a wild mess, and her eyes developed some bags underneath them from her lack of sleep. She groaned at her appearance.

Matthew got off her bed as well. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, I'm just exhausted and looking like I haven't slept for multiple days." She took her hands and combed her hair with them. "Guess what else, too? I have to work today."

"You work?"

"Yeah, I do. I am scheduled to work every day of the week from noon to eight at night at Fredbear's." Grace laid her eyes on Matthew in the mirror. "You know what? I'll go, even though we've encountered some...uh...menacing robots not too long ago."

"Don't you need some sleep? I might try to sleep myself."

"Sleep? After what happened? I doubt I can even close my eyes and feel relaxed." She turned back towards him. "Look, my parents don't know I have you here. If you want to sleep, I'll have to ask them if you can stay here until I get home."

Matthew sat back on the bed. "Well, Grace, it's good you mentioned Fredbear's. I have a birthday party coming up at that place; it's my party."

Grace faced herself back at the mirror to fix her hair with her hairbrush, which was sitting on the dresser right next to her. "Oh, really? Happy early birthday! How old are you gonna be?"

"Seven," he replied. 

"Seven, huh? You're growing up." She laughed. "When is your party scheduled? I may see you there."

"I think it's in four days."

"That's not too far away. Are you excited?"

Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Sort of. I'm still kind of nervous from what Michael has been doing to me, and I'm also scared from those animatronics. Speaking of them, who are they? I know they're Freddy and his friends, but...they're...they are not the original characters."

"I named them 'Nightmares.' To me, they seem like things that you'd encounter in a bad dream, so that's where I thought of that word. Now, each one has 'Nightmare' in front of their names, so for example, Foxy would be Nightmare Foxy. I hope if the news of these animatronics go public soon enough, that'll be their certified names."

"Cool names." He nervously smiled. "So...like...Bonnie would be Nightmare Bonnie?"

"Exactly." Grace frowned. "It's nice that I named them, but I definitely know that they aren't nice themselves."

"That's true."

She sighed and walked away from her mirror. "I'd love to chat more, but let me get the topic of keeping you here for the day out of the way. I don't want to ignore telling my parents about you and then having them catch you up here in my room. If they approve, cool, but if not, I'll help you stay somewhere else that's safe."

"I hope they don't mind me being here. I prefer being away from home."

"I know, Matthew." Grace laid her hand on her door knob, but she never turned it right away. "If they let you stay, I'll make sure they give you food to eat and things to entertain yourself with. You need a break from all of this crazy stuff. Don't worry about me; I'm an adult, and I don't need a break."

She turned the knob and opened her door, allowing herself to go downstairs to the living room, where her parents typically hung out. She saw her father sitting in a chair and watching his normal favorite television shows, whereas Janice was reading a book on the couch. Janice peeked at him over the top of her book and yelled at him to keep the volume down, but he ignored her.

"Mother, Father, why are you two up so early?" Grace walked further down the stairs until she was at the bottom of the wooden staircase. "Before you ask me the same thing, my reason is because I can no longer sleep."

Janice looked up at Grace. "Don't worry. We couldn't sleep either, since we heard unexpected sounds of someone pounding on our front door. I'm not sure who it was, but they might have been furious or something. We just waited for it to go away, and I'm surprised the noise did."

"If you'd let me, I could've called the cops," Grace's father argued. "You wouldn't let me, though."

Janice angrily stared at him. "I just said, William, that they went away! Nothing else happened the rest of the night!"

William rolled his eyes and proceeded to watch his TV show.

"Anyways, the noise also scared poor Iris. Last night, I heard her jump down from some piece of furniture, probably the couch, and she meowed at the door. After that, she got even more scared and ran to our room."

Once her mother mentioned their cat, Grace examined the whole living room and soon found Iris laying on the second couch, opposite from the other Janice was sitting on. The still terrified Siamese cat had her ears back and was quickly turning her head to every little sound that was made. Iris meowed once and jumped up from her spot, running to another room with her feet creating tapping noises on the hardwood floors.

"Iris, what's wrong?" Grace called, but Iris was already in another room. 

"That cat makes me question her sometimes," William laughed.

"Father, if she was scared of something, you shouldn't be teasing her. I get she's just a cat, and that it's cute to look at her, but still..." Grace crossed her arms. "You wouldn't laugh at me if I was petrified of something."

"Well, of course not."

"Obviously. I care for her. You know that cats have feelings, too, right?"

William shook his head and focused his eyes back on he TV.

"Anyways, you guys heard a noise this morning? Hmm...yeah, that's why I couldn't fall back asleep either." Grace tried her best to make her lies seem like the truth. "I heard it around--what time was it?--oh, five AM, I think. Did you both hear it around that time, too?"

"I believe it was a few minutes past five," Janice said and sighed. "It might have been a drunk guy or something. There is a bar just a few blocks down. It feels like maybe some person, who was highly intoxicated, came up to our door and randomly started pounding on it. Alcohol can really mess with your head and make you do things like that."

As Grace kept talking to her parents about this "drunk guy," she held onto the thought of that "guy" possibly being one of the Nightmares. She didn't want to tell them about that, though, as she thought she'll look crazy.

She suddenly remembered Matthew being up in her room. "Um, I also had a question; it's about my boyfriend's little brother."

"Go ahead." Janice set her book down. "What do you want to ask about him?"

Grace still never wanted to mention the Nightmares. "Uh, my boyfriend has been out a lot from his home, and he's been leaving his brother by himself. As crazy as it sounds, he's up in my bedroom right now. I just don't want to have him hanging out at home alone, because he needs an adult to watch him. May I have him stay here today until I get home from work?"

Her mother took off her reading glasses. "He's here now?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to tell you guys until you two were awake," Grace replied. "I know it's a long way, but I care about that kid so much that I walked over there last night to get him. I'm sorry if I never told you guys I'd be out, but Matthew desperately needed someone to look after him."

Janice looked over at William. "Do you mind having a little kid over today?"

"As long as he doesn't cause problems, I don't care." William switched off the TV. "Wait, are we going to watch him while you're gone?"

"If you're not bothered by it, yes, but once I return home, I'll figure out what to do with him." Grace stood against the wall. "He's pretty calm and laid back, so he won't cause trouble, I promise."

"Alright, he can stay here." Janice stared back at Grace. "He's only staying today only, because you need that boyfriend of yours to be a more responsible adult; he needs to look after his own sibling."

"Yes, Mother. I'll talk to him later."

Grace ran back up to her bedroom and found Matthew sitting on her bed, his special Fredbear plush in his lap. He was glancing around the room, but once his eyes laid on Grace's, he slightly smiled at her.

"They're letting you stay here, but for today only." She walked into the room and slowly closed her door. "After I come home from work, I'll take you somewhere else that the animatronics won't go to."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Anywhere with a big group of people," Grace told him. "I think the Nightmares like to target people who are alone, and I doubt they'd go after a group. Now, while I'm at work, I'll think about where to take you with many people in that place."

Matthew laid his eyes on his plush. "But Grace...I was just thinking..."

She sat down next to him. "Yeah?"

"My home is my home. I am not a baby; I'm a growing kid. I can fend off these Nightmares by myself."

"Matthew, they'll kill you, though! I don't want you dead!"

"You saying I can't fight for myself? You think I'm a wimp, like what Michael thinks of me?" Matthew jumped up from the bed. "I get you want to protect me, but I can do things on my own! Forget staying here; I'm going home! You can fight for yourself, too, since you're such a 'big and strong adult'; you don't need me!"

She widened her eyes at him. "No! I don't think that you're a wimp! I just..."

But Matthew was already out of the bedroom. Grace tried to grab him as he made a run for it, but she failed. 

"Dammit!" she mumbled and left her room quickly, chasing after him.

Matthew ran outside, but Grace wasn't anywhere near the front door as he left the house. As she jerked the door open, she already lost sight of him. She went out the front door, leaving it open, and called for Matthew multiple times.

"No! No!" she yelled and broke down in tears.

* * *

"Yeah, some idiot scratched words on my car," Michael told a vehicle collision mechanic. "Look at what they wrote."

It was hours past six in the morning, and he managed to go back to the bar he was at earlier; Michael was able to get his own car back. He was also surprised that it wasn't towed or anything, as most cars, like his, would already be towed from being left behind. Michael figured with the damage put into his car, he knew he would have to get it checked out by an expert.

The mechanic bent down to look at the strange writings on the side of the car. "What is this even saying? Do you know what this says, young man?"

"Sort of, but I'm not sure."

The guy stood back up and placed his hands on his hips. "We can repaint your car, but that's all I think we can do. These are just scratches, and most scratches can be hidden easily with a paint job."

"Look, man, anything right now would work. I hated driving that thing here with those words scratched on it."

The mechanic walked around the whole car to examine it. "So, that's it? Just the scratches?"

Michael nodded his head at him.

"Alright, it won't cost much."

"How much are we talking?" Michael pulled out money from his pocket. "I'll just pay in cash."

"I say around...80 dollars. Got that much?"

"For a scratch? Wow." He started to count his money. "I think I have that amount--oh, I do. How about I just pay now? I'll show you my license and all that later, if you don't mind."

Michael handed the mechanic his money, and the man smiled at him.

"As long as we know later that this is truly your car, we got all of this under control. This will only take 10 minutes at the most."

"Cool. I'll just wait here."

Michael walked over to another room with a set of chairs and sat down in one of them. He looked at the whole repair room through a window and heard the loud sounds of tools being used on other vehicles. A couple of cars--one was a luxury sports car, and another was a pickup truck--were raised off the floor by vehicle lifts, but no one was working on them.

He glanced around the room he was in and only saw a couple of people sitting in different chairs across from him. One of them was an older man, appearing like he was in his 60s or 70s, and another person was a younger girl who looked as if she was in college. The man was reading a novel, and the girl was writing in a crossword puzzle book. 

The girl noticed Michael staring at her, and she smirked at him, but she never spoke a word. He stood up from his chair and sat down next to her.

"Hi there," he told her. "You have a car getting repaired?"

The girl gave him a confused look, still not talking.

"Do you have a car getting fixed here?" he repeated.

She kept giving him a blank stare, and she used one of her hands to show that she never understood.

"Never mind," Michael said. "I guess you don't want to talk to me."

The girl shook her head and focused back on her book, but once she turned her head, he noticed that she had something in her ear. It took him a moment to realize what it was.

"Oh...you...you can't hear me," he mumbled. 

He tapped on her shoulder, and the girl turned back towards him.

"What?" she asked, mouthing the word at him.

Michael hesitated for a few seconds, and he started to use his own hand signals while asking silently, "Do you have a car that you're getting fixed?"

The girl smiled and nodded her head. She looked back through the window and pointed at the red sports car that was lifted off the ground. Unlike earlier with no one around it, there was now another mechanic working on the underside of it.

"Nice." Michael grinned at the sight of the expensive, newer-looking car. 

She eventually pointed at him and then at the window.

"My car?"

The girl put her hand down in her lap and continued smiling.

Michael remembered that he had a picture he took of the scratches before driving his car to the shop. He pulled out a picture--that was printed right from his camera after taking it--from his other pocket and gave it to her. 

She frowned and kept staring at it in confusion once seeing the words scratched onto the car. Soon, she laid her eyes back on him and pointed at it, giving Michael that same puzzled expression.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what it says either."

The girl handed the picture back to him and tore out a huge piece of blank paper from her book. She used her pencil and wrote down, "I think it'll be easier to talk this way. My name is Sofia. What's yours, good-looking?"

As soon as Michael took the paper from her, she giggled at him. He nervously laughed back at her as he looked at the paper. Sofia handed the pencil, too, over to him, and he grabbed it out of her hand.

"I'm Michael," he wrote. "Also, I have a weird question for you, if you don't mind answering it. Once I first saw you, I thought you were in college or something; you have that kind of look to you. Are you?"

Sofia took the paper back and nodded at him. "I'm in special classes, though, because I was born with no sense of hearing. Despite my problem, I'm targeting for being a doctor or psychologist."

"Sorry if this is offensive, but won't it be hard to talk to patients, or will you find a way around that challenge?"

"I'm asked that question a lot, but I'm really hoping to cheat my way around that. If I can't, I'll have to get special hearing aids to enhance my hearing by a huge amount. I don't care what I do; I'm just going to go for one of my dream jobs."

Michael paused before writing something else down. "You seem to be a very positive girl. I like that."

"Thank you, but..." Sofia also hesitated. "I'm not feeling so positive right now because of my car. I bought that for thousands of dollars not too long ago, and it's already acting up on me. You're lucky your car just has scratches. By the way, do you know who made them?"

"No, I don't. I think it was some fucker who doesn't know English."

"Hey now, be respectful." She shook her head at Michael's comment.

"Sorry."

"Anyways, aside from that...thing you just said, I believe you're a really nice guy. How about we go out for dinner and get to know each other better? You free either tonight or tomorrow?"

Michael started to think about Grace, but he purposely tried to ignore his thoughts about her. "Sure, I'm available anytime. Where do you want to go?"

"There are plenty of nicer restaurants downtown. Sorry, but I'm not going to some cheap place, like Fredbear's, where the food is greasy."

"Fredbear's is not cheap; it is like...two bucks for a sandwich. You think that's cheap? Oh, my bad; I'm just grumpy today. Sorry for my mood." He sighed. "Well, let's exchange numbers, and we'll figure it out from there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering why things are so cheap in this book, it's because inflation was different in the 1980s than today. So, for example, paying for something for $2 is like paying over $5 for something today.


	14. Chapter 14

Grace wiped down the final parts of a party table, sighing to herself as she completed her work. She folded up the washcloth she used and walked away from the table, eventually meeting her reflection in a nearby mirror.

She noticed the same bags underneath her eyes she had before leaving for work, and she began to think to herself that she appeared like a complete mess. Grace nodded her head, accepting the fact that with zero sleep, she would develop signs that--making it obvious to others--would make it look like she never slept for many days.

Despite staying awake the night before, she never felt like sleeping during the day. Grace was still shaken up from what happened, and she never told anyone when asked what was up with her. She only told them, "I sometimes deal with insomnia."

As of now, her lie seemed to be a fact. During her work hours, she was in that "tired but don't feel like sleeping" state, because of the moments from what occurred last night. While sleep sounded good for her right now, she also never felt relaxed after encountering the Nightmares. 

Another question she was asked was the bandages that were still wrapped around her foot, as her work uniform never completely covered it. When other employees, even her own boss, questioned her injury, she also lied, saying, "As crazy as it sounds, some dog attacked me this morning and bit me near my foot. I had to stop at a drugstore to get bandages to wrap it up; that explains why I was a bit late."

"There is no way you were bitten by a dog," her boss had said, after she replied to the same question she's been receiving, greatly concerned for her. "I saw you limping while moving around, and I also noticed you sat down a lot. That does not sound like a dog bite if you're in so much pain that you can hardly work. Look, I owned a dog who would bite almost all the time, and his bites hardly caused me pain."

"Well, you're lucky, because this dog's teeth dug deep in my skin. I didn't expect this to happen, but although I'm hurt from it, I still came to work anyways."

Her boss, also the diner's owner, stared at her. "Grace, don't you lie to your own boss. I know something else hurt you."

Grace sighed another time, thinking about that conversation from earlier. She looked up at a nearby clock, which read "4 PM," and sat down at a party table, removing her bandages. As soon as they came off, she held them in her hand and examined the holes in her ankle. As of now, there wasn't any signs of bleeding, but because the holes were deep, Grace kept them covered to avoid further infections.

As she looked at every hole indented in her skin, she felt frustration build up. Because of Grace's injury, her boss easily saw that she was lying to him. She was forced to show her injury and explain the real reason behind it. 

After checking the injury out, he told her to go home early for the day and not come back if work was going to interfere with her healing time. If Grace had to come back in the meantime, she would have to wear a special brace to avoid feeling pain. She knew that if she never worked, she won't get paid, and she chose the option to wear something on her foot.

Grace still never told her boss the real story behind her injury; she only made something up that seemed more realistic. She felt regret about lying even more to him, but if she told the real story, she would feel more ashamed and left out on the topic of what she'd say.

She reapplied the bandages carefully and stood up from the chair. Grace, limping from pain, walked out of the diner and made her way towards the parking lot. She glanced at a coworker, who was leaning against the wall of the diner, and he smiled back at her, surprised to see her.

"I never see you out here; you're usually in there cleaning up," he said. "Did our boss give you a special break or something?"

"I guess you can say that," Grace replied and laughed. "No, I'm just injured, and he's sending me home early. Doesn't want me to come back in the meantime, unless I wear some sort of brace over my injury." She crossed her arms. "What I also hate is that today, I was in the restroom here, and something...monthly started on top of that, so I'm now hurting in two places."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about on that last one." He frowned. "Sorry about that. I hoped you got access to a product for it."

"I did, but I had to ask a female employee for something to use."

"I see." The coworker nodded his head. "Now, for your injury, did you break a bone?"

"No, I was just..." She hesitated and eventually brought up the "dog attack" excuse again. "I was just attacked by a dog."

"Ouch. Did it hurt?"

"A lot," Grace said. "It even hurts to walk."

"If it's that bad, I'll be glad to help you walk to your car. Wait, did you drive yourself here, or did you take some other type of transportation?"

She adjusted her standing position. "I drive myself sometimes, but I took a public bus. I didn't want to risk using a leg that I'm trying to heal and make it hurt even more; it would've been painful to use the acceleration lever in a car. I know walking isn't good, but at least on a bus, I'm sitting and not doing anything with my foot."

"That's true." The coworker reached into his pocket. "I think there's a bus that comes around this area soon; if not, it'll probably be a block or two down the road. Look, you're hurt, Grace. I'll lend you some money to use."

"Do you want me to pay you back?"

"Oh no, don't do that. Don't waste your money. You see, I'm hardly spending all of mine anyways. You keep your own money."

"But I'm the one riding the bus. I should pay for it myself."

"Grace, I'm doing you a favor." Her coworker developed a serious look on his face as he pulled out some of his coins. "You deserve this."

She placed her arms at her sides. "Do I?"

"Yes, you do."

"It's your money, Elijah, not mine."

"Just...take it, and I'll walk you to the stop. I think I know where it is." Elijah grabbed Grace's hand and dropped the money in it. "I swear, I'm fine with the idea of handing out money."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. Thanks for the money and help then."

He smiled at her and kept his hand out. "Here, go ahead and grab it. Don't fret about us holding hands like we're a couple, because we're obviously not; I'm just doing a friendly favor. I know you still have your boyfriend, so please don't think what you probably originally thought of when I offered you to hold my hand."

Grace remained silent, unsure what to say, as she held onto his hand, and Elijah carefully led her to the nearest bus stop.

* * *

Later that night, Matthew had already found his way back home before the clock could even strike midnight; he came back around seven in the morning and slept the rest of the day. As he walked into his room, he carefully placed his Fredbear plush on his bed, alongside of the Freddy plush already on it, and sat down, watching the time on his alarm clock get closer to 12 AM.

"Here we go," he whispered to the plush. "This is another night with these monsters. I'm a tough boy, though; I can fend them off by myself."

Matthew grabbed the flashlight he stored in the nightstand drawer and pressed the button. The light flickered a bit before fully turning on, and he shined it all across the bedroom.

He felt his hand shake as he gripped the flashlight in his right hand. The light that was illuminating from it shook as well. Matthew tried to hold the flashlight still in his hand, but his fear was so strong that he also began to feel himself breathe heavily and quick.

Matthew jumped down from the bed, holding his favorite plush in his left arm. He took multiple deep breaths to get himself to feel calmer and more relaxed, but his arms kept on shaking. He eventually felt his legs begin to tremble as well.

"I'm...I'm a strong boy," he repeated to himself. "These...these Nightmares won't...scare me."

His alarm clock then reached midnight, and Matthew took another deep breath after looking at it. The plush he held was now being hugged tighter in his arm, and the light coming out of the flashlight was still shaking, but he tried his best to keep it as still as possible.

Matthew shined the light on his closet door, and he noticed a pair of red eyes stare back at him. The nightmarish form of Foxy, that Grace noticed the other night, was peering at the child, his long tongue hanging out of his mouth and his hook holding onto one of the doors. Nightmare Foxy soon snarled at him and stood up on his two feet. Matthew quickly moved the flashlight over the fox, and Nightmare Foxy growled angrily at him in response. 

The terrified kid ran over to the closet doors and shut them on the fox animatronic. Upon opening them back up, all he saw was a plush form of Foxy. Not knowing what to do next, Matthew left the plush in the closet and ran back towards his bed, looking out for the other animatronics. 

"I...I don't need you, Grace," he mumbled and closed his eyes, trying to let himself relax. "I have me. I'm a tough kid, and I...can...do this myself."

A loud crash from the right hallway made Matthew jump, and his heart raced from the unexpected noise. In fear, he slowly walked over to the door and opened it slightly, listening for any signs of a Nightmare.

Matthew turned on the flashlight and saw a scarier version of Chica hiding behind the corner at the end of the hallway. She seemed to have hidden herself away from the child's sight once the flashlight was shining on her. Matthew turn it back off once she disappeared and when he no longer saw her.

"Please go away," he quietly said. "I...I don't want to see you."

He raced back towards his bed and checked underneath it, seeing if Nightmare Freddy was there, and to his surprise, the terrifying bear animatronic was. He opened his orange glowing eyes at the child and narrowed them in anger, eventually swinging one of his hands at Matthew. 

Matthew screamed and backed up in time before he was scratched on his face. He felt a bit of Nightmare Freddy's claws touched his face, but they didn't hit him enough to actually create marks. Matthew sighed in relief, lucky that he nearly missed the claws.

Upset that he missed, Nightmare Freddy growled a few times, his glitchy, animal-like voice ringing in Matthew's ears. Matthew backed even more, being able to still see a portion of Nightmare Freddy's eyes under his bed.

Matthew kept walking backwards until he felt himself hit his closed closet doors, and he quickly turned around, opening the doors and peeking inside. The inanimate fox plushie was still sitting in there, staring back at him. 

He grabbed the plush and threw it across the room. "Leave me alone, you monsters!"

The plushie landed in front of Matthew's bed. Nightmare Freddy looked down at it, not making a single sound. After a few seconds, he let out a slow, evil laugh, enjoying the fear and frustration that Matthew was feeling. He soon fell silent and watched the child fend off the rest of his friends.

Matthew went over to the left door and listened to see if Nightmare Bonnie was there, and he heard someone pounding their feet against the hallway floor. Matthew quickly closed the door and sat down, facing away from the door. He kept trying his hardest to slow down his breathing, but the more he was surprised by the Nightmares, the more he couldn't find himself calming down.

Not that much time passed by, and Matthew felt as if he was already going crazy. It was no longer midnight, but it has been only 10 minutes, and he was about to already give up. Matthew, though, kept telling himself that he doesn't need anyone by his side and that he could face monsters by himself.

"The only thing I need is you," he said to his Fredbear plush. "Who needs my brother? Who needs Grace? With my parents gone, too, I can still do things myself."

He shined the flashlight back underneath his bed, and Matthew saw Nightmare Freddy blinking a few times at him. The animatronic let out another laugh, and soon enough, Matthew heard strange noises coming from on top.

"W-What is that?" he stuttered. 

Nightmare Freddy continued to stare at Matthew and stopped laughing, as if he was telling him, "I've got a surprise for you. Look up."

As he suspected, Matthew focused the light on his bed and noticed three robotic bear cubs sitting on his bed, appearing as if they were "laughing" at him. Once the flashlight came in contact with them, they disappeared in a paranormal manner.

He jumped back in fear after seeing the three cubs. "What are those? What are they doing on my bed?"

Nightmare Freddy exhaled heavily out of his mouth in response. 

"Look, this...this isn't all fun and games!" Matthew yelled. "Get them out of here!"

He laughed once again at the child.

"I'm serious. You think you're all strong and powerful, but I'm the one with the power here! You all are worthless!"

Matthew heard another growl come from the Freddy counterpart, but this growl sounded as if he was angry, yet calm at the same time. 

Matthew chuckled, trying to get the fear off his chest. "That's right. You're not as tough as you think you are. I'm stronger than you; I can prove it!"

Nightmare Freddy's growl was louder and angrier this time. The animatronic jumped out from under the bed and tackled Matthew, holding his hand against the child's neck and choking him with his strong grip. Nightmare Freddy leaned his head down towards Matthew's face and made another infuriated growling sound.

"Please...let me...go!" Matthew begged, with his words hardly coming out of his mouth. 

The bear animatronic fastened his grip even tighter around Matthew's neck, beginning to draw blood with his claws. 

"I...I didn't mean...what I...meant! Just...let me go!"

Nightmare Freddy ignored him and continued to draw blood.

Matthew kept crying out for help, with a strong hand tightened around his neck and razor sharp claws digging into his skin, but no one was there right now to save him.


	15. Chapter 15

"Stop! Let me go!" Matthew yelled at Nightmare Freddy. "I...I didn't mean what I said, I..swear!"

Matthew still fought for his life as the vicious animatronic kept digging his claws in the poor child's neck. He gasped for air and coughed a few times as the Freddy counterpart grasped his hand tighter around.

"I'm...sorry, Nightmare Freddy!"

Nightmare Freddy lowered his ears in confusion at the new name he was called by. Narrowing his eyes, he proceeded to strangle Matthew and never budged one bit; he just kept his hand on the kid's neck and growled a few more times at him.

Matthew was unable to scream anymore, as he also felt himself getting dizzy. He noticed that every part of his room was getting blurry, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see himself pass out. 

Nightmare Freddy's head and ears perked up as a loud bang came from the right hallway, and he loosened his grip on Matthew's neck as he looked over to check out the sound. He stood up and walked over to the right door, leaving Matthew laying there and bleeding out with holes poked into his skin.

He continued to lay on the ground, his eyes closed and his breathing speeding up every second. Matthew took multiple deep breaths to see if he could slow his breathing rate down, but it seemed like his rapid rate was uncontrollable.

The nightmarish bear laid a hand on the wall as he looked down the hallway. He glanced back at Matthew and snarled at him.

"W-What are...you...looking at?" Matthew asked him, still attempting to catch his breath. 

Eventually, Nightmare Freddy was too distracted that a figure in the darkness suddenly attacked him. Matthew couldn't make out what the figure was using on the animatronic, but he saw that it knocked him completely on the ground. Nightmare Freddy stayed on the ground, breathing heavily with anger, and managed to raise himself back up off the ground.

"No, you stay down, you robotic creep!" a female voice yelled, hitting the animatronic once again as the figure saw him trying to fully get back up. "And you stay away from Matthew!"

Nightmare Freddy growled at her as was still being attacked. He grabbed the tool the figure used, and she cursed under her breath in shock. He pulled it towards the ground, and the figure nearly collapsed from being pulled down. Nightmare Freddy successfully stood back up on his feet and soon started fighting with the stranger over the tool, both of them holding onto it.

"No, this is...mine!" She yanked it back out of his hands and hit him multiple times again. "You stay down now, you hear me?"

The figure eventually moved over towards Matthew, and a blonde girl hovered her head over his. Through his blurry vision, Matthew was able to tell who it was.

Grace.

To him, she appeared as worse as before. More bags were under her eyes, and her hair was as messy and crazy as the last time he saw her. Grace had some of her clothes torn with holes in them, and one of the pieces of her clothing were almost falling off her body; she tried to keep it on her as much as she could.

"Matthew! Did he get you? Oh my God!" she cried and picked him up. "That animatronic bastard! He shouldn't have hurt you!"

Grace looked back to see if Nightmare Freddy was still on the ground, and he was--in fact--laying down, groaning from the damage Grace did to him. She held Matthew tightly in her arms and ran out of the house, trying to avoid as many Nightmares as possible.

Grace quickly opened the door to the car she drove to the house and laid Matthew down in the backseat. She grabbed a package of tissues out from her pocket and took a couple out, pressing them against the bleeding holes in his throat. At the same time, she used her other hand to grab her phone and call for an ambulance. 

"I'm getting help, Matthew! Don't worry!"

She kept glancing back at the house, keeping an eye out for the animatronics. Grace stared back at Matthew and eventually suggested that he needed to keep the tissues pressed against his skin, while she would get into her car and drive to a nearby hospital. She closed the back right door of the car and canceled the call, before a 911 operator could answer her, soon rushing into the driver's seat.

Matthew followed her suggestion and adjusted himself in the backseat. 

"Hang on! This may be a wild ride!" Grace started up the car and looked back at him once after putting her seat belt on. "Don't try to move your head at all, just for the sake of your injury. Keep those tissues pressed against your neck."

"A-Alright..." Matthew mumbled. 

She pressed her foot against the gas pedal. Despite it hurting so much from the indents in her skin from Nightmare Freddy's claws, she ignored the pain and was more worried about Matthew's injury first versus hers. Grace turned the car out of the grass, where it was originally parked, and raced away from the house.

She took a peek in the mirror to see if any of the animatronics were somehow chasing them down, as she suspected along with incredible strength and stealth, they may have had superhuman speed, too. Grace kept taking glances in the mirror for a few seconds until she suddenly spotted a Nightmare standing in front of the car; the animatronic appeared to be Nightmare Foxy. She gasped in shock, almost on the verge of screaming, and without hesitation, she increased the pressure of her foot on the pedal.

"Hold on, Matthew!" she warned the child. "I'm going to hit this Foxy counterpart with my car!"

"What..."

As the car sped up, the front bumper soon hit Nightmare Foxy, making him completely fall on the ground. Grace backed up the car and quickly turned it around the fox animatronic, taking one last glance behind her to see if he was on the ground for sure.

"Okay, he's down," she said, focusing her eyes back on the road. "Yes, Nightmare Foxy was really there. I'm sorry, I just had to get him out of the way before he could actually do anything to us."

"It-It's fine..." Matthew blinked a few times at her. 

Grace continued driving towards a nearby hospital and kept her eyes out for the animatronics. She also took multiple glances at Matthew to see if he was doing alright; in the pitch darkness, she saw him wearily blinking his eyes at her many times and talking in a raspy voice.

Grace took thorough deep breaths, trying to get her heart to slow down from the fast, rapid rate it was at, and she felt as if she was in a nightmare. Here she was, escaping these hellish robots who would not reject the idea of killing someone, and she was taking an injured kid to the hospital, too, who was hurt by the same animatronic as she was. 

At this point, Grace's mental state was on the edge. Until the Nightmares showed up, she was a brave, positive girl, but she felt herself getting weaker and more terrified of her life ever since spotting Nightmare Foxy and his friends. It may have not been a long time, but she already felt as if she can never go anywhere without the animatronics being there at night, ready to murder her. For her, paranoia never existed, but it was now a problem.

She was just on the line of going insane.

"Matthew, I forgot to say--I...I need to tell you something, but I'm not going to say it until you're better and are recovering," Grace told him. "It's serious, and I hate to say it, but it's about you."

Not saying anything else, she drove further into town. While she made her way towards a hospital driveway, which was the next turn, two police cars and three police SUVs raced by on the opposite side, their sirens on and lights flashing. Grace had stopped in time once she spotted the vehicles, and during her moment of letting them pass, a man yelled through the radio for people to "get out of the way."

She watched the moment behind her, expecting them to be together, but all the vehicles took separate turns. One police car and SUV turned left. Another group of a car and SUV went straight. The last SUV took a right when at the intersection.

"I wonder why they split up," Grace commented as she began to drive again.

Not too long later, while she parked in the hospital parking lot, two ambulances left the "emergency care" driveway, their lights on but no sirens playing, and went in the same direction as the police cars did. Once again, they split up at the intersection Grace stopped by; one went left, while the other went right. As she got out of her car to get Matthew, she stared at the ambulances in confusion.

"Maybe there was another murder," she told herself, opening the door to the backseat. "Actually, there may have been more with multiple emergency vehicles going different ways. Whether it's the Nightmares or not, I hope the cops find something."

"Huh?" Matthew asked, looking up at her.

"Oh...nothing. I was just talking to myself."

Grace picked up Matthew bridal style, his head resting on her left arm. He kept his hands pressed against his neck, as what Grace suggested to control his bleeding. She closed the door with her waist and rushed towards the entrance of the "emergency care" section of the hospital.

Inside of the hospital, a nurse noticed the two right away, and she ran up to Grace, asking what was wrong as she took a quick look at Matthew.

"It's...kind of a crazy situation," Grace replied. "Look, this kid is just bleeding out, and he needs help. He has an injury like me, and we've been hurt by the same...guy, but don't fret about me; my injury is healing."

"What do you mean you have the same injury?" the nurse asked. "You two were also hurt by the same person?"

"Uh, they're not human." Grace nervously laughed and then frowned. "Forget it! Just...help him, please!"

"Okay, well...um...hand him here." 

Grace handed Matthew over to her. "Keep his head leveled."

"I'm doing that." The nurse adjusted Matthew in her arms, soon calling out for help and turning back to Grace. "Miss, you said that you're injured, too? I'll get another nurse to look at you. Doesn't matter if it's healed or not, it wouldn't hurt to look at it."

"I'm fine," Grace argued. "I promise that it's better and not infected. I have taken care of it by myself, and it's no longer as horrible as it was before."

"Miss, we just want to make sure; it's our job to check if people are healthy, with anything ranging from a small cut to a life-threatening condition. Please, let me get someone to look at your injury."

Grace sighed. "Okay then, but they'll see that I'm not wrong--I'm just saying."

Two more nurses, and one doctor, ran over to the one Grace was talking to. All three of them placed Matthew on a moveable hospital bed and rolled him away from Grace, leaving her by herself, but another nurse who was called over made her way towards Grace.

"I assume you're the one who's going to look at my injury," she told her. 

The nurse, whose name tag read "Camila Lewis, RN," nodded her head. "I heard you had a similar injury like the little boy you brought in. Is that true?"

"It's very much true."

Camila smiled. "Alright. Where is it located?"

"Near my foot on my right side." Grace pointed down. "It really hurts to walk on it, like yesterday, I went to work, but my boss sent me home early since he saw me limping a lot."

"How much does it hurt?"

"On a scale of one of 10, probably a six or seven."

"That sounds like moderate pain." Camila signaled Grace to follow her. "Come back with me. I'll take a good look at it."

As she followed the nurse back to a room, Grace started thinking about the Nightmares again, and she felt a wave of stress build up in her. She took some deep breaths to get rid of the negative feeling she was suddenly feeling.

Camila turned back to look at her, and she was frowning. "You okay?"

Grace's eyes jolted up at her. "Oh, yeah...I'm okay."

"Are you sure? Hate to be obvious, but you look extremely tired, Miss. Are you getting enough sleep?"

Grace raised her voice. "The hell do you think? Does it look like I'm sleeping properly? Of-fucking-course not!"

Camila faced away from her, not saying anything.

Grace was directed into a room that was not far from where Matthew was taken. Camila told her to sit down, and when she did, Grace covered her face in distress. The nurse closed the door and looked down at her patient, staring at her with concern.

"Miss, you need to be honest with me. You're not looking so well. What is it?"

"Not your business!" Grace yelled, uncovering her face. "Just look at my injury, nothing else!"

Meanwhile, she was stressing over the Nightmares. The thought of vicious animatronics, with animal-like behaviors, killing innocent people off was something that Grace never wanted to keep in mind. She visioned the Nightmares chasing after people and murdering them in the most graphic ways possible. Grace started to cry from these imaginations of hers.

"Hey, look at me..." Camila reached down and touched Grace on the shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"Back off, you bitch!" Grace shoved her. "I don't want to talk about my issues! Now, I'll hurt you if lay another hand on me!"

The nurse backed up in shock and hesitated, but she soon opened the door again and closed it after leaving the room. Grace heard her calling for a doctor and, for safety reasons, a security guard from behind the door.

Grace dried her tears and shook her head, turning her head towards the window next to her. She noticed most of the streets were empty, but despite the town being small, the roads were typically lively. She suspected that after all the PSAs the police have come out to say, many people feared leaving their homes past midnight.

"If you people are so scared, just move out," Grace mumbled. "It's not that hard to transfer towns. They most likely won't get you then."

She looked up at the clock in the middle of the wall near the window. Reading "12:32 AM," it kept ticking at her every time the second hand moved. To break the silence, not counting the sounds the clock made, Grace saw a radio on a tray next to the bed she was sitting on. 

Messing with it, she pressed a button, and the radio immediately turned on. She flipped through a few stations, hearing bits of songs as she switched stations, until she stopped at a station with a man talking. Grace widened her eyes as she listened and turned up the volume.

"Day 11 of these mysterious disappearances," he said. "There are still calls flooding into the 911 operating center, and it is unsure why these reported murders have not stopped. Police have said that all of us must secure our homes, but that hasn't caused these incidents to stop. For your own safety, with these murders taking place from midnight to six AM, stay awake and alert for this stealthy murderer. The population has declined a lot since all of this happened, and we must not lose any more lives. Please, whether you believe in this killer or not, do yourself a favor that you won't regret."

Grace switched to another station, but after a song ended, another warning about the same situation popped up; this message, however, seemed more serious, as a few strange beeping sounds played before anyone started talking.

"This is a warning announcement from the Rhode Island State Police. Three cases of murders have been reported within the past half hour, and it is suspected that this number will continue to rise throughout this single night and forward on. The RISP advises all citizens of the Providence County area to stay awake until the time reaches six AM for the sake of safety with an unknown and incredibly stealthy killer going around. If needed, go to areas with crowds to decrease risk of becoming a victim. Contact your local police station for more information. In cases of an emergency, call 911 immediately. This public safety announcement is sponsored by the RISP."

As soon as the message ended and cut off to commercials, Grace felt her heart race. The two messages replayed in her mind, and she noticed she was shaking from the haunting messages.

She looked back out the window and noticed four pairs of glowing eyes staring back at her from the parking lot; one pair was orange, one was purple, and the two other pairs were red. Grace realized who they were, and she felt her breathing speed up.

The animatronic with one pair of red eyes, that being Nightmare Chica, walked in front of the group. She stood next to the car Grace drove and placed her hands underneath it. Grace watched her closely, wondering what she was going to do next.

Nightmare Chica lifted up the car and flipped it completely upside down. She soon continued standing there afterwards, not taking her eyes off Grace's. 

As the car was being flipped, Grace rushed towards the window and pressed her hands against it, screaming, "No! That's my parents' car! What are you doing?"

The Nightmares continued to keep their eyes on her with menacing looks on their faces, their eyes narrowed and claws out. As they moved closer to the window, they all blinked a few times at her and proceeded to stare at Grace, attempting to intimidate her and make her feel more afraid. Grace, in fact, did feel more fear build up within her, but she tried to ignore it.

She jumped as the door to the hospital room suddenly opened. Grace turned away from the window to look at who was entering, which happened to be Camila, a young-looking doctor, and an older-looking security guard.

"Please forgive me," Grace said to them, trying to slow her breathing. "I've had a rough night, and I'm just fed up. I promise, I won't hurt you anymore, Camila."

"Well, I'm here just in case you're lying," the security guard replied and stood in a corner of the room, folding his hands in front of him. "It's not acceptable to assault someone or make threats, young lady. You get a warning for now, but if you continue, there'll be consequences."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, as you're being examined, mind telling me what's going on?"

Camila directed Grace to sit on the bed, but Grace still was standing by the window. "Well, it's just that I've been seeing these--"

As she looked back at it, Grace was shocked to see that the Nightmares were no longer there. The car she has been using was still flipped upside down, but there was no sign of an animatronic anywhere.

"What are you looking for, young lady?" the security guard asked, walking towards Grace.

"What the fuck? I saw them!" she exclaimed and laughed nervously, soon making her way towards the bed. "S-Sorry. I-I'm just hallucinating, I think."

The security guard kept examining the outside, trying to also look for what Grace saw. "What? Who did you see?"

"Nothing." Grace sighed as she sat down. "I swear, I must be seeing things. It's no big deal, sir; don't worry."

What Grace saw was, truly, not her mind playing tricks on her. She felt as if she's going crazy, but she also knew that the Nightmares were really right in front of her, waiting for her to leave the hospital to have that perfect time to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Rhode Island isn't the canon location for the FNAF games, yet we don't even know the overall state/country where the FNAF series is set in, but I imagine the games to be taking place somewhere on the East Coast in the US.


	16. Chapter 16

A few minutes after encountering the Nightmares, Grace allowed Camila to look at her foot. The five holes that Nightmare Freddy made in her ankle were all small open wounds with each having a red circle surrounding the outer edge of the holes. After a quick look at Grace's ankle, Camila measured each one to be about nearly half an inch in diameter. She also noticed that four holes were perfectly aligned next to one another, though one--which would be where Nightmare Freddy's thumb dug into Grace's skin--was a bit further down near her foot.

Grace kept taking multiple nervous glances out the window in case the animatronics ever showed up during this moment, but she still saw nothing from the outside.

The security guard watching Grace placed his hands in his pockets and stood over by the window, keeping watch of whatever was out there that Grace saw before he entered the room. Like her, he never saw anything in the pitch black darkness outside. In case something were to pop up, he loaded his gun and carefully put it back on his belt.

"From what I saw, sir, a gun won't stop them," Grace said, noticing him loading his gun. "It'll take a lot more than that to destroy them successfully."

"Speaking of that, young lady--" He walked over to her. "Tell me what it was that you saw."

Camila took a large cotton ball out of a container and slowly put some antibiotic ointment on it. "You said that this 'guy' you came across wasn't human, and you also mentioned he injured that little boy, too. Tell me as well; I'm curious."

Grace felt the cotton ball touch her ankle, and she winced from the pain. "Well...it's just that..."

The security guard frowned at her. "Hate to interrupt you, ma'am, but is this 'guy' you speak of the same thing as what you supposedly just saw out the window?"

"Yes, he is."

"How can he be a hallucination if your injury here from him is physically real?" He crossed his arms. "Please tell us who you saw. I'm an authorized officer, though I'm not as high up as a cop, and I'm here to protect patients like you. Like I said, I'm no cop, but my job is to also ensure safety. Who was it? What is his name?"

Grace sighed. "You wouldn't believe me at all. Everything I'll say would sound like he is just something in my mind."

"Look at me, young lady." The security guard moved himself in front of her. "I said I'm an authorized officer. This 'guy' definitely is not all in your head if he has hurt you and that young boy you brought in. Please tell who he is. If you're not sure of his name, that is okay; in that case, at least describe him."

"I...I can't say..." Grace looked back out the window, but she still saw nothing in the darkness. 

"Ma'am..." His face appeared more serious, as he was looking deeply in her eyes. "No matter how crazy he appears, I'll check out this guy. You can trust me."

She watched as Camila took a closer look at each one of the fives hole in her foot, and she looked back up at the security guard. "Like I told Camila, he's...no human. As insane as I sound here, he is actually...an animatronic."

"An animatronic?" He backed up from the hospital bed. 

"Yes, but it's not only him; he has his friends, too."

"Okay, so what are their names, if you know?"

"Well, I named them, but their official names would be Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, and Chica. I took every one of their real names and came up with the term 'Nightmare' to put in front. I know the one that hurt me and that boy--by the way, his name is Matthew--was Freddy, or with my name for him, that would Nightmare Freddy." She covered her face in embarrassment and fear. "You don't want to look at them; they're just more terrifying than the original Freddy Fazbear's animatronics."

All of the others were at a loss for words. Camila and the doctor continued doing their work in silence, while the guard tried to gather all this information in his mind.

"Call me a liar, but I'm being truthful and honest with you. I'm not sure who built these monsters, but they have sharp teeth and claws, and they have an overall more scary appearance." Grace uncovered her face. "You heard about that Sarah Carter girl who was killed? She had lots of her body parts ripped out and stabbed, and let me say...that incident sounds too brutal for the human criminals that have been already roaming this area."

"You're saying these mysterious animatronics, that are based off the original Freddy characters, are the reason behind these innocent people being murdered and their bodies disappearing out of nowhere?"

"I'm certain about that." She blinked a few times and felt tears running down her face. "I already talked to an actual cop about this, but I'm not sure...if he...really...believes me..."

Grace's sentence trailed off as she began bursting in tears. She shook more from the fear she was experiencing, but she tried to calm herself down. 

The security guard proceeded to stand still in silence, unsure about whether to believe her or not. He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her in a calm voice that he'd get all of the police stations in the town to act on this situation.

"I am not saying I don't believe you, but I don't know at this point," he continued. "I will actually reach out to almost every cop in this town to go on patrol and to check out every neighborhood. Of course, some cops may still have to respond to other crimes, but I'll explain the situation to most of the police officers. You say that you already told a cop about the animatronics? What's his name?"

"Not sure about his first name, but his last name is Nelson," Grace replied. 

"Oh, what did he look like?"

"Um...he looked to be middle aged. Brown hair. Short beard. Why do you want to know?"

"That's my best friend, believe it or not! Both of us took jobs as officers in different places. Was he doing his nighttime patrol? I know he's been doing that ever since these people around town were getting killed."

"Really? Could you...reach out to him?"

"Yes, I'll do that." The security guard smiled at her, but he frowned again. "Again, while I'm gone, don't threaten Camila or this fellow doctor, or you'll really face consequences."

"I won't, sir." Grace nodded her head at him. "I promise I won't act the way I did before."

As he left the room, Grace focused her eyes back on the doctor and Camila. She sighed and apologized to both of them.

"What are you sorry for?" the doctor asked her. 

"You know...for my behavior," she said. "Well, that mostly goes towards Camila. You see, I don't get what's with me tonight; I'm just...overwhelmed."

"With all of what you said to the security guard, I can see why you're overwhelmed." Camila continued to examine Grace's foot.

"Personally, do you believe me--you know, with the animatronics?"

Camila stepped aside, leaving the rest of the job to the doctor. "I'm actually in shock with everything you mentioned. Now--not trying to insult you--I thought you were crazy at first, and I believed that nothing you said made any sense, but I soon agreed that the way people are supposedly being killed around here have been extremely graphic and brutal for this area. I have never heard of any killers from this town kill someone with a couple of their body parts ripped out."

"You also think that the victims' murderers aren't human, too?"

"That I'm not sure about, but it's possible. Look at the way technology is advancing; maybe there are some animatronics around town that are built to act in a way that most other robots do not program to be. If they are real, they seem to be unseen or unheard of."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking!" Grace exclaimed. "Why do you think other people think I'm insane when I tell them about these animatronics? They tell me that I'm crazy, just because they've never seen those nightmarish robots, and when they do, they're already dead. Well, I know the news about the Nightmares haven't really gone all around town, because I've only told very few people, but I hope their identity gets revealed soon enough. I mean, what is the town's population now? It's decreasing, and the public does need to act on this before almost or exactly everyone is attacked."

Camila nodded at her.

"Look at this, too." Grace pointed out the window. "Can you see it? Before you two came in the room, the Nightmares were in the parking lot. One of them happened to flip my family's car over. I need to get it towed and into a repair shop, because I really think they damaged it good."

"Do you know who flipped it over?" Camila asked as she looked out the window, and once she saw it, she widened her eyes in shock. "Wow! You weren't kidding!"

"Nightmare Chica did it. I was surprised that she was able to lift something that weighs twice as much as she probably does. Well, I'm surprised but angry as well at her. She shouldn't have done that, though, because my parents would easily find out the car is wrecked, and I'd be dead. Even if I pay for it, they'd still hate me for what happened."

After a few minutes of talking about the Nightmares, Camila and the young doctor focused back on the subject of Grace's injury. As much as she listened to the both of them, she still had the animatronics on her mind.

"Seems like that Nightmare Freddy fella really punctured your skin," the doctor told her, wrapping another bandage around her ankle. "Each hole is infected, but if you properly take care of them, each one should clear up within a minimum of two weeks. I suggest you pick an over-the-counter ointment at the drugstore and put that on each hole once or twice every day. If any or all of them don't improve, come back here, and we'll figure something else out."

"What if I have to shower? I obviously have to use body wash and all that."

"In that case, use some waterproof bandages while you're in the shower. Your body wash may make the infections worse because of all the ingredients found in that stuff. Some ingredients may make the holes more irritated when in contact." The doctor stood up and took off his gloves. "I forgot to say, too--make sure you also clean the area well once in a while with clean hands. Dirty hands is not something you want to have when touching an infection."

Grace laughed. "Um, yeah. I'll keep that disgusting fact in mind."

He threw away his gloves in the trash can, which was standing near the door. "Alright, you're done. Remember, take care of those holes in your ankle, and you'll be fine."

"Will do." She jumped down from the bed and nearly gasped from the pain as soon as she put pressure on it. "Now, uh, what do I need to do? Sorry, this is my first hospital visit as being an individual patient."

"Just go up to--oh, wait."

"What?" Grace stared at the doctor, confused. 

"I just remembered: the rules are that we must transport you via a wheelchair when you're ready to leave, no matter how minor or serious your situation is. For now, we'll let you walk around--hm, how about we'll put you in a temporary brace for now, and you could also use it outside of the hospital?--but once you leave, we'll put you in a wheelchair." The doctor placed his hands on his hips. "In the meantime while that Matthew boy is being checked out, you need something to eat? The cafeteria is on this same level; you can just walk down there."

"No, I'm not hungry, not after my encounter with the animatronics. I do need to use the restroom, though. Do you have anything I could use for my...uh...you know? I didn't bring any with me."

Camila smirked at him once he gave Grace a confused look. "It's a girl's thing, Mr. Davis." She eventually looked at Grace after a few seconds. "I might have something for you. Follow me."

"Thank you."

Davis kept his eyes on Camila as the two girls left. "Please call me 'Mister' when we're not working, Camila. I'm trying to be professional here."

* * *

Matthew slowly opened his eyes, quickly glancing around the hospital room he was in. He spotted an IV needle attached to his left hand, and he also felt what was a breathing tube in his nose. A large bandage was wrapped around his neck, but it wasn't enough to somehow constrict him. 

He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and continued laying there for a moment, trying to recall what brought him to the hospital. Once he figured out the reason, he sighed and leaned against the pillow on the hospital bed.

Matthew spotted a bowl of ice cream on the table next to him, followed by a note next to it, which read,

"Hey, Matthew. This is Grace. As I brought you in the hospital to get help for your injuries, I was also called back to have mine checked out. You probably saw me limping when I was coming to your house to save you, and yes, that's because of my own injury. I'm fine now, and I hope you are, too. Can't believe Nightmare Freddy thought it'd be cool to hurt the both of us, but does it matter? He, like his friends, is just a heartless, creepy bastard who thinks killing and hurting people is something fun to him.

Anyways, once I was done being checked out, I was put in a foot brace while waiting for the nurses and doctors to be done with you. It is currently three in the morning, and I've been waiting impatiently, but now that I saw you sleeping, as a nurse was occasionally checking up on you, I thought I'd go down in the cafeteria and get you a treat. Don't worry about me being hungry; I don't deserve food right now.

Now, I'm not sure if you'll be released today, since my examination was a quick 15 to 20-minute check-up, but we'll see. I mean, your injuries were just as serious as mine, but because yours were in your neck, that may be a place they'd want to pay more attention to. A part of me says that I don't want to leave tonight, because if we're staying until six AM in a crowded place, I'll be happy; I think you would be, too. The Nightmares won't get us then.

Anyways, enjoy your treat. I'm just going to walk around the first level for now to adjust to this brace I was given in the meantime."

Matthew, whispering, "Thank you, Grace," picked up the bowl of semi-melted ice cream and began eating it. Despite feeling fear from being attacked by an animatronic, he felt safe as well, knowing that he had Grace by his side to be there for him.

As he finished his treat, he sat the plastic bowl back on the table and frowned, also thinking how much he'd be a "big boy" without Grace there when fending off the Nightmares at his home. 

"No, I don't need you, Grace," he mumbled. "I'm told I'm always a wimp, and when I do things myself, I feel stronger."

Matthew began to close his eyes, listening to the beeps of the heart monitor next to the bed, and moved his head towards the window near him. He opened his eyes and watched the very few amounts of cars pass by on the streets. He watched as a cop car rushed by the hospital, followed by an ambulance from another hospital. Both vehicles had their siren settings on, the sound and lights on them both operating.

Not that much time passed and Matthew noticed four pairs of glowing eyes of the animatronics standing right at the window. He sat up in the bed and stared at the Nightmares in fear, feeling his breathing speed up.

The one with purple eyes, Nightmare Bonnie, stepped up further to the window and began pounding his fists against the window, growling aggressively. Watching him, Matthew looked down at the hospital remote-like item laying in the bed right next to him. He repeatedly pressed a button on the remote to call a nurse.

But he couldn't get help in time.

Nightmare Bonnie, with the help of the other Nightmares, fully smashed the window to bits, and he soon walked up to the bed, hovering his head over Matthew.

"W-What do y-you want from m-me?" Matthew asked him and backed up in the bed, eventually raising his voice. "Someone...help!"

Before anyone could come into the room, Matthew closed his eyes, scared, and felt a metal hand hit against his face. As he'd expect, he couldn't see anything except complete darkness, and at the same time, the poor child was no longer conscious.


	17. Chapter 17

Matthew found himself awakening in his own bedroom. Confused, he kept looking around the pitch black room, wondering how he got there, but as he took a moment to think, he suddenly remembered.

The IV that was in his hand had been ripped out, as Matthew saw some blood dripping down his entire hand. The bandages that were wrapped around his neck were no longer there, as those have been torn off as well. His breathing tube that was tied around the middle of his face was also gone.

He was left in his room by himself. He had no available flashlight to fend off the Nightmares, and as a second thing on top of that, Matthew couldn't find his plushies anywhere, not even his Fredbear plush. With his loneliness and no one there to help him, he felt a sense of vulnerability within him, but he reminded himself that he was a "tough boy" to decrease this feeling.

Matthew jumped off his bed and ran towards the door to the right. He listened carefully in case Nightmare Chica was behind his door, and he heard a soft, muffled breathing sound from the other side. He quickly closed the door and waited for her to leave the door.

Meanwhile, as he stood there impatiently, he glanced over at his bed and laid his eyes on the underside of it. Nightmare Freddy stared back at him with his orange glowing eyes, and a loud laugh came from him, which echoed throughout the whole room; this was the first time Matthew has heard his voice. Nightmare Freddy's voice sounded incredibly deep and evil, but it also wasn't the deepest voice Matthew has ever heard. He felt chills on his body after hearing the animatronic's laugh.

"You know I'm not scared of you!" he yelled at the Freddy counterpart. "I'm strong!"

Nightmare Freddy laughed again in response.

Matthew paid attention back to the door he closed and never heard anything else. In just a few seconds, he raced out of the bedroom in search of a flashlight to fend off the animatronics and to avoid his death.

As he was running down the hallway, he kept looking behind him to see if an animatronic was running after him. He felt his heart rate speed up as he continued his way down the hall, and his breathing sped up as well. He looked forward again as soon as he made his way into the kitchen, the room where Grace once found a flashlight. Matthew smiled and rummaged through all the drawers.

The last drawer he checked, which was near the refrigerator, had a flashlight laying in it. He snatched it out of the drawer, and--as soon as it was in his hands--he pressed the big red button on it. The flashlight flickered for a bit before the light soon stopped flashing.

Matthew shined the light around the kitchen and kept his eye out for the Nightmares roaming around his house. He stared up the clock on the wall, reading "3:16 AM," and sighed in relief, knowing that he didn't have that much time until the animatronics would be done for the night.

He walked out of the room and peeked around the corners of the kitchen doorway, but he never saw anything; the other rooms he took a peek in were all empty. Matthew went back into the same hallway and quickly made his way back into his bedroom, his heart racing, but he ignored all of the fear that was building up inside him.

He felt himself shake as the same laugh from Nightmare Freddy appeared again. The nightmarish animatronic still remained hidden underneath Matthew's bed, using his glowing eyes to try to induce fear in the child. Matthew did notice he was feeling the effects of Nightmare Freddy's eyes, but he immediately turned away to ignore the robotic monster.

He ran over to the left door to check to see if Nightmare Bonnie was there, but after listening carefully, there was nothing. Matthew went back over to his bed and faced himself towards it, almost screaming from seeing the three smaller bear animatronics "laughing" at him before they all vanished. He shook his head and turned away from his bed once again.

Matthew ran over to his closet to check on Nightmare Foxy. As he turned on the flashlight, a fox's head suddenly popped up in front of him. He closed the doors, but before he successfully could, Nightmare Foxy's hook stopped the two sets of doors from closing. He growled at Matthew and pushed him back with his hook. Matthew fell backwards on the floor, and he looked back up at the terrifying fox animatronic, who was now standing over him.

"W-What do you need f-from me?" Matthew stuttered, also standing up and walking away in reverse. 

Nightmare Foxy titled his head at the child, and his long snake-like tongue stuck out from the inside of his mouth. He moved closer to Matthew and growled again, but this time, his growl was softer and less aggressive. Nightmare Foxy bared his teeth and used his hook to grab onto Matthew.

"I-I don't know want you want, F-Foxy."

Nightmare Foxy kept staring into Matthew's eyes, but he eventually threw him across the room. Matthew landed against the wall, his head making a loud thud on it upon contact. He felt himself almost crying, but he tried his hardest to not make it obvious. He pressed his hand against the back of his head and mumbled some words under his breath.

Nightmare Foxy laid his eyes on Matthew and opened his mouth back up, softly growling at him again. The child quickly stood up and shined the flashlight on the fox animatronic, making him screech and also making him run back to the closet. Matthew stood against the wall and took a moment to let himself relax.

A couple of hours went by, and Matthew kept shining his light in multiple places in or near his room to keep the Nightmares away. At one point, he was almost on the verge of death; when fending off Nightmare Chica, she grabbed onto him and nearly bit him on his head, but he was able to fight with her to let himself free. 

Matthew looked up at his alarm clock, seeing that it was 5:55 AM exactly, and he felt a sense of pride and excitement within him. There was only five minutes left to this second night, and so far, Matthew thought he was doing pretty well for being by himself. He still was fearful of the Nightmares, but he never showed them that he really felt that way.

It wasn't until the front door to the house opened once again. Matthew sighed, thinking it was either Grace or his brother, but he never went out of his room to check.

"I don't want any of them here," he whispered. "I know I can do things myself. I'm strong."

As he'd expect, he shined the flashlight on a figure that stood in the left doorway, watching him closely. Matthew shined the light on it and noticed Grace standing there in the doorway. She squinted her eyes and hovered her hand over her forehead once the flashlight was illuminating on her.

"Look, I'm not a wimp," Matthew told her and set the flashlight down. "I was able to avoid these Nightmares on my own."

Grace placed her hands at her sides and walked over towards him. "Yes, you are not a wimp, and I do not think you are, but I just want to talk for a bit, Matthew. I have a couple things to ask you."

"Well, what's one thing?"

"I see that you're alive now, but I wanted to know what happened back at the hospital earlier," she replied. "I didn't know you were gone until the place went on lockdown. A couple of nurses outside your room heard you screaming, but they couldn't find you once they entered. They did find the entire window broken with glass everywhere, and just in case anything else would happen, the whole hospital went on lockdown. Now, as soon as that happened, I was told by a security guard to leave. I asked if I had to pay or do something for our visits, but he kept demanding me to leave."

"What does a lockdown mean?"

Grace sat next to him. "It just means that a building, like the hospital, had to be restricted for a certain amount of time, like patients couldn't enter or leave the hospital for security reasons; since I was near the entrance, though, they just had me exit and not come back in. Now, what happened with you? Did the Nightmares get you? The nurses should've been checking on you more."

"Yes, they...they kidnapped me. Nightmare Bonnie punched me in the face and knocked me out, and that's all I remember. I guess they really wanted me."

"Matthew, children like you are easier to go after, because in general, kids are smaller and weaker. I'm not saying you're any of that, but I'm just saying that as an overall thing. I can tell you that I am less likely to be a victim than you, and that's why I want to really protect you and make sure you're safe."

"Is that why they brought me back home? Did they just want to play some...'game' with me?"

Grace sighed. "I assume so. Now, that's another thing I want to mention."

"What is that?"

"Aside of what happened back at the hospital, why do you keep running off on me?"

"You should know why." Matthew crossed his arms and looked away from her. 

She hesitated for a moment. "I know that you probably think you're not a strong boy, but I really think you are. I just want you to be by my side, so you have an authority figure with you. I care about your life, Matthew, and if you die, that'll just break my heart."

He remained silent.

"As much as you love being by yourself to fight off the animatronics, some situations are too dangerous. You can be a strong boy in more harmless moments, but this one is a matter of life and death. I want you to know that you can be a tough young man when you want to, but as of now, that isn't happening. I want you to be alive and well, and if I'm not there, how am I supposed to save you from these vicious animatronics? Hear me out, Matthew; I'm trying to do what's best for your life. If I had to when I'm with you--and I hate to be graphic here--I won't hesitate to let one of the Nightmares bite me and tear me apart to bits, only to let you remain alive."

"What do you mean by that last part?" Matthew stared up at her, also fascinated by her use of words.

"It means that I won't hesitate to sacrifice my life to save yours. We haven't known each other for long, but I would really kill myself to let you live."

He looked back at the ground, letting all of Grace's information enter his head. After deeply thinking about it, Matthew felt himself starting to cry.

"Just listen to me. I really care for you--" Grace started to cry as well. "--and I want you to live your life. I wouldn't want you dead. Do you want to be forever gone with you being unable to see anyone you love ever again? I'm trying to tell you that I want you to be alive and that I wouldn't mind sacrificing myself if you're in danger; that's why I'd be there with you in these situations."

Matthew buried his face in his hands, letting all of tears fall out. He felt Grace's hand touch his back once he broke down after seeing her cry.

"Do you get what I'm saying?"

He uncovered his face and nodded his head. Matthew hugged Grace and told her in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Matthew. Please don't run off on me again."

"I won't. I prom--" He stopped as he suddenly heard a strange sound.

The moment between the two was cut off by the same "laughing" sound of the three animatronic cubs on the bed. Grace looked back at them in both confusion and fear.

"I think those belong to Nightmare Freddy," Matthew said. 

Grace smiled as she began to think of something, and she leaned in to whisper to him. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's try to capture one of these little guys. You said that one of the Nightmares kidnapped you? Well, let's do the same to one of them."

"And what will we do with them?" Matthew asked softly.

"We'll take them to one of the police stations to show the cops what we believe is killing these people around town. I'll tell them that these little fellas are not the real reason, but I'll mention that there are animatronics bigger than them."

"How are we going to take them?"

"At least one for now will be good. I'm going to grab one, and you grab another. If you don't get one, but I do, that's alright." Grace glanced back at the three cubs still sitting on the bed. "You grab the one by the edge on the right side, and I'll take the one on the left. Don't shine your flashlight, or they'll disappear; I know how much they hate the light."

Matthew nodded once, and both he and Grace stood up and walked on opposite sides of the bed. 

She bent down and focused her eyes on one of them. "Well, hello there, little guy. You're cute, aren't you?"

The cub she was next to looked up at her and fell silent, tilting its head at her.

Without hesitation, Grace suddenly snatched the cub right off the bed. It let out a screech, trying to break free from her grip, but Grace tried her hardest to keep it in her arms.

"Stay still, you little bastard!" She placed it up to her chest with her arms tightly wrapped around it. "I got one, Matthew! Don't worry if you didn't catch one."

"Yeah, I couldn't catch one of these guys in time, not after you grabbed that one."

Grace suddenly remembered what Matthew mentioned before. "Oh, did you say that these fellas belong to Nightmare Freddy?"

"Yes."

"Well, we need to leave now then! He'll definitely be infuriated with us, and I know he'll try to kill the both of us." She kept adjusting the cub in her arms as it kept trying to escape. "If these robotic cubs have Nightmare Freddy as some 'father figure,' he won't be happy with what we're doing."


	18. Chapter 18

"Alright, it's asleep, but at least it's still here with us," Grace told Matthew as they entered a nearby police station. "Come on."

The cub that she had kidnapped had shut down for the night, as its eyes were closed, and it was also not moving at all. After what felt like a long time of the cub trying to escape her arms, it was now relaxed, and Grace was relieved from the short battle of holding onto it.

Beforehand, Matthew and Grace hitched a ride with a stranger, and the person was a bit surprised to see a robotic bear cub laying in her arms. Grace explained the whole situation on who she thought was killing citizens around town and that the little bear she was holding was one of them, except it was only there to mess with a victim's mind.

"Is that so?" the stranger had said. "One of the animatronics have their own cubs?"

"Seems like it," Grace had replied to him. "Matthew and I had to get out of there quickly, because this little guy we took belonged to one of the more aggressive animatronics. It's shut down for now until the next early morning, but I still want to show the cops, just to prove to them I'm not crazy."

"You know, I have never heard of robots murdering people." The man had glanced at the small animatronic next to him, with Grace holding it as if it was a human baby. "I'm...still in shock that you actually have one of them."

"Just so you know, I don't count this one and the other two as 'Nightmares,' because I don't even know their names. I'd name them--like what I did to Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Foxy, and Nightmare Chica--but I'm not sure what to exactly name them." She had looked down at the cub sleeping in her arms. "I'm also not gonna lie; this guy looks adorable when he is sleeping."

Matthew had looked over from the back seat of the stranger's car to take a peek at the bear. "I mean, it does look cute, but it still belongs to a killer animatronic."

"I understand that, Matthew." Grace had faced back towards Matthew, and she smiled at him. "For now, it's cute, but it'll be not be cute again when midnight hits."

"Midnight? Is that when they come out?" the man had asked her. "I mean, I have heard of all these 911 calls taking place past that time until six in the morning, but...wow. They do?"

"Yes, they do." She had turned back towards him. "Six hours of torturing and murdering--that's what they do."

When they had arrived at the police station, the man decided to sit outside of the building until Grace and Matthew were done, as he offered to give them another ride if they wanted to go back home.

"And what happened to your car, Miss?" he had asked Grace upon coming towards the police station. "I forgot to mention that."

"It was flipped over by one of the Nightmares when I was in the hospital for a quick check-up," she had answered. "I got a towing company to take it to a mechanic shop, and I had to ride with another stranger in the meantime to go to Matthew's house. You heard about the hospital being in lockdown? I'm not sure if it's still going on--it may be--but the lockdown was all because of the animatronics kidnapping Matthew. I had to quickly get to his house somewhere, so after calling the towing company and mentioning I probably won't be there, I found the next passing car and begged the driver to take me to Matthew's home, literally getting in the car with them in two seconds and having them drive above the speed limit."

"Sounds terrible. Also, I hope you didn't get pulled over."

"We didn't, luckily."

As Grace and Matthew found themselves in the station, a couple of police officers looked back at them, curious as to what they wanted. One cop, who was sitting at a desk, asked if they needed anything, but he was staring down at his desk and was writing on paper. As he looked up, he widened his eyes.

"Wait a minute." He stood up and walked around the desk. "You look familiar, young lady; I think you're that Grace girl I met that one night, and I offered you a ride home. Oh, it hasn't been a long time, but with everything going on around town, it definitely feels like it."

"Nelson? I didn't know you worked at this station," Grace said. "I'm actually happy you're here, because I have a surprise."

"Did you bring me donuts?" Nelson asked and chuckled loudly. "I'm just messing with you. What have you really brought?"

"Look here; it's one of the animatronics I mentioned to you." She held her arms further out in front of her. "Well, it's not one that has been killing people, but one of the actual bigger robots has his own cubs; this is one of them."

In surprise, he examined the cub carefully. "May I hold it?"

"Sure. It's shut off for now, so don't worry about 'waking' it."

Nelson grabbed the cub from Grace's arms and held it the same way she did. A couple other police officers nearby were interested in seeing the little animatronic, and they stood in front of Nelson, also closely looking at it.

"You sure that these animatronics are real?" he asked, handing the cub over to another cop--who then took it to a back room for others to see. "I mean, I'm not sure at this point if what you've said to me earlier was the truth. We've been investigating around town ever since I mentioned your information to my fellow cop friends, but we have not seen anything, other than hearing about more disappearances."

"If these robots weren't real, then how the fuck did I get that little robotic guy? As just a bit of info, I have no experience with building animatronics whatsoever; I can guarantee that."

Nelson shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we're not just working hard enough. We'll try to step up our game before 12 AM."

"I met a security guard while I was at the hospital. I thought he'd reach out to you."

"He did, but...I'm still confused about all of these murders happening, and I didn't alert the whole group. I definitely should." He glanced back at the other cop standing behind him. "Tell those guys and ladies in the back we'll have to split up our patrol duties tonight. Have some look out for any crimes, and have the others search for these animatronics roaming around the town."

"Nelson, it'll take a lot more than just a few cops to stop these Nightmares," Grace warned him, and this grabbed his attention. "I doubt everyday weapons, like your guns, would fully stop them."

He hesitated for a moment and sighed. "Grace, we're just trying to..."

"Trust me. I know that they're stronger than you think. Look at what happened to Sarah; the animatronics tore her to bits with their bare hands. You think pistols or rifles are going to stop them? They also are made of metal, and I really think they may be bulletproof."

"Alright." Nelson laid his eyes back on the cop. "Also tell them that we may consider bringing in the FBI if our investigations keep failing or if, somehow, some officers are mysteriously murdered by these killer machines."

"Damn. You're bringing the FBI into this? I thought it'd take the military to take down these monsters." Grace shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I don't think I'm wrong."

"We'll do anything to make sure this investigation is successful, ma'am. If, for any reason, the FBI is unsuccessful and the animatronics are really unbeatable by then, we and the FBI may consider reaching out to the government to get some military action." The one cop looked back at Nelson. "I'll let them know right away."

"Hey, before you go--" She grabbed ahold of the cop's arm. "How long are you going to look at that animatronic cub? I need it back, because it belongs to one of the animatronics, alongside of the other two I didn't bring with me. As much as I felt proud of kidnapping it, I feel like I should just a favor and return it to their 'father.'"

He nodded his head and nervously chuckled at the idea of smaller animatronics having a "parent" to help go after a victim. "For now, we're going to use it to figure out if you're right about these supposedly real robots. Once we're done, we'll bring it back. Where did you find it?"

"At his house." Grace pointed at Matthew. "I can tell you the address, as long as you hurry up before the next morning."

He kept smiling at her. "Will do, Miss. Please tell me his address."

* * *

Michael pulled his car out of the repair shop once it had been repainted and restored to its original look. He sighed to himself, wondering why it took so long to get it repainted. At first, he was waiting and talking to Sofia in the meantime, but he got so impatient that after 20 minutes, he told the mechanic he'd be back. Sofia was getting tired of waiting, too, and both of them went back to Michael's house to hang out for a bit.

He noticed before that there were a lot more vehicles than usual at the shop, causing a delay in Michael's car getting repainted as soon as a mechanic could get to it. Most of the cars appeared as if they've all been in a crash. Some looked as if there were claw marks scratched or poked into the cars' bodies.

Michael looked back at the photo he took as soon as he spotted the strange markings on his car. Surprised by the weird writing, Michael kept rereading it over and over again. He felt spooked, knowing that after criticizing whoever vandalized his car was near him and heard everything he said.

"No!" Michael exclaimed to himself, ignoring his fear. "It's just some prankster who tried to scare me! I know it is!"

He placed the photo in the cup holder next to him and continued driving towards his house, playing rock songs in his car with the volume up. With a hand on the wheel, he used another hand and reached over to grab a beer bottle he picked up from a gas station. Michael took a sip of the alcoholic drink and quickly turned the wheel, right as he noticed that the car was almost going off the road.

After what felt like a long drive, Michael parked the car in the driveway of his home and exited it, making his way into the house. He happened to find Matthew sitting with his Fredbear plush in his lap, his eyes open in shock and his arms wrapped around his legs.

Michael smiled at the sight of his brother, ready to bully and humiliate him even more.

"I know you're here, Michael," Matthew said. "Don't be acting like you're sneaky."

"Ha, guess you caught me." Michael laughed. "The hell are you doing looking so terrified? Man up, you baby!"

"Just so you know, Grace told me I'm a young man, not a baby." The child took his feet off the couch and leaned back against it. "She's right, and you're wrong."

His older brother frowned. "And what is she doing looking after you? I'm your older brother; therefore, I should be the one looking after you! My girlfriend doesn't need to be breaking into our house to check on you! That bitch needs to call me first for permission!"

"Does it matter? At least she cares about me. You don't."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I know that you hate me, but I was thinking if you wanted to go to Fredbear's with me. I'm going to get some breakfast."

"Do they serve breakfast?" Matthew never looked at him.

"Of course they do! Why do you think the place is called a 'diner' for a reason?"

No response from Matthew.

"Seriously, come on!" Michael pulled Matthew off the couch, and his sibling almost fell on the floor from being pulled off. "You want food or not?"

"Yeah, sure," the little brother mumbled in fear. "Whatever you want."

The drive to Fredbear's felt extremely long for Matthew. He mostly kept ignoring Michael in order to prevent more trouble between the both of them. His older sibling kept blaring rock music and was singing along to it, while he sat in silence on the way there. His brother may have been having fun, but the child was not.

Michael shoved Matthew towards the front door of the diner upon arriving. Matthew took a deep breath, trying his best to adjust to his brother's obnoxious, immature behavior. 

"Hey, little man," Michael said and bent down to look at Matthew. "Before we get anything, I'm going to use the restroom. Go and take a look at Fredbear and Spring Bonnie or whatever. I don't really care what you do; just don't be running off on me, okay?"

Matthew nodded his head silently.

"Cool. Now, if I hear you're running off, you're a dead man, you hear me? Be good or else!" Michael stood back up and left his brother by himself.

Matthew noticed the two animatronics on stage, performing for anyone who had a party going on at the diner. No one seemed to be in the same room as he was, and the other thing he heard was the animatronics' voices.

He walked over by the stage and stared up at Fredbear and Spring Bonnie. At the same time as he was slowly making his way past them, Fredbear bent his head down, almost like as if he was intentionally staring right at Matthew. 

The scared child looked back into his eyes while proceeding to walk, until he happened to come across a door, which he ran into. Matthew backed up from it and, being the curious kid he was, opened it to see what was inside. The only things he noticed were spare animatronics parts, all stored away on shelves.

It wasn't long until he heard a loud laugh from behind him. Before Matthew could turn around in time, he felt himself being pushed in the room, and the door slammed shut behind him. He was left alone in a room that was completely dark, still, and quiet, except he was able to hear the muffled sounds of the animatronics from behind the door. 

Matthew grabbed ahold of the door knob and turned it, but the door wouldn't open.

"Hello?" he called. "Anyone there? Can someone let me out, please?"

He never heard a response.

"Let me out of this room!"

Nothing.

"Please! I want out of here!" he screamed. "Let me out now!"

Matthew kept messing with the knob, but it still wouldn't fully turn. He pounded his hand on the door, hoping someone would finally hear him.

No matter how much he tried, though, no one came to his rescue, and he was left to be trapped for a very long time.


	19. Chapter 19

A couple hours past six AM, Michael noticed Grace walking up to his house. He watched her carefully as she came closer and closer to him, but what threw him off was the fact that she was angry at him. Despite her frustrated look, he continued to smile at her.

Michael saw that Grace was wearing a dress this time instead of her normal long sleeve shirts and jeans. This yellow dress she wore was knee length, and it wasn't anything too fancy; it was just a simple dress. Michael seemed to like it when his girlfriend wears something that matched up with the current season.

Grace was also barefoot this time, as he never saw any shoes on her feet, and she wasn't even carrying a pair in her hands. She normally never liked the idea of walking around with no shoes on, but Michael thought she had changed her mind on this, and he was fascinated by it.

"Hey, I haven't seen you for a while," Michael said and stood up. "I'm really sorry, love; I've been hanging out with my friends a lot."

Grace stopped in front of him and shoved him back. "Oh, is that where you have been? I was about to ask you that, but you seem to not care about the safety of your girlfriend or brother! Both Matthew and I have been through hell, and you weren't there for any of us!"

"Huh? What are you on about?"

"Are you that much of a dumbass? Don't you even know what all has happened this past week?" She stood closer to him, getting her face into his. "Are you really that oblivious?"

Michael backed up from her. "Grace, I don't pay attention to the news."

"You should!" Grace got closer to him once again and punched him, causing him to scream. "You're a terrible boyfriend, you know that?"

He covered his nose as he noticed blood dripping from the inside. "Babe, what's going on with you? You're not usually acting like this."

"All I'm gonna say is that you don't need to give me that 'Are you on your period?' stuff, because although I am, that's not why I'm frustrated with you."

"Then what are you upset about?"

"Hm, want me to just say?" Grace faced herself away from him. "What about all those mysterious disappearances of people around town? What about Matthew being home alone with these monstrous animatronics, and I have to go over there and watch over him? What about the lockdown at the hospital from Matthew being kidnapped by the animatronics? Oh, and what about me being injured from one of these robots? I bet you that your next response is going to be, 'I didn't know all of that happened,' because you don't pay attention to shit! How stupid and oblivious are you? We could've died, and you wouldn't have known or cared!"

Michael stood there in silence and shock.

"So, what do you have to say, or are you just going to stand there like the scared little bitch you are?" Grace turned back towards him after a moment of him not talking. "Hello? Are you deaf? Say something!"

"Grace, if you calm down, we'll talk this out."

She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "Alright, whatever, but you need to have good reasons--other than you hanging out with your friends--on why you haven't been there for Matthew and I."

"First of all, I do not think the animatronics exist," Michael explained. "You're telling me all of this stuff about these strange robots killing people, but how can you tell they're real?"

"There's this injury I got from one of them." She unstrapped her brace and lifted up her foot. "There are five holes near my ankle; one of the animatronics punctured his claws into my skin. At first, I told my boss at Fredbear's that I was attacked by a dog after he found out about my injury, but that was a lie."

After looking at Grace's foot, he hesitated. "You said Matthew was kidnapped, too, at the hospital? What was he there for anyways?"

"Well, why don't you look at his neck and see for yourself? He has a similar injury to mine, and he also had to get checked out like me." She sighed. "Anyways, yes, he was kidnapped. The nurses checking on him found the window next to the hospital bed to be completely broken with glass everywhere on the floor. He was nowhere to be found when the nurses came into the room, but Matthew mysteriously ended up back at home. I began to think that the animatronics got him, and I highly think that's true."

Michael paused again before he spoke. "I still don't believe these animatronics exist."

"Well, whether you do or not, Matthew and I were in danger, and you were not there. Tell me: what were you doing?"

"I had to hang out with my friends..."

"You had to?" 

"Yes, because I wanted to have a fun time with them. Can I not talk to my friends at all?"

"You can, but only a true caring boyfriend would at least have some concern for the stuff his girlfriend and little brother are going through. That kind of boyfriend doesn't act all oblivious and like a douchebag when his girlfriend tells what's going on with her; that's how you're acting right now. If you want to stop acting oblivious to what's going on, read or watch the news and keep up on that stuff, and for fuck's sake, show that you care for me. When have I seen you do that?"

"Fine. I'll show that I'm such a caring boyfriend." Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I'm also not a news person, but whatever."

Grace smiled and shook her head. "You also say that you don't believe in this animatronic stuff because you're not keeping up on the news. No wonder you probably think I'm crazy. Well, I got one piece of evidence for you."

"Good. Show me. Convince me that I'm wrong."

She laughed. "I haven't heard anything yet, but I was able to capture a smaller animatronic from early this morning. Matthew and I took it to a police station, and the cops are supposed to return it to us. I'm tempted on just going back there and getting it myself so I can show you."

"You captured a what?"

"A smaller animatronic. As weird as it sounds, the nightmarish form of Freddy has his own 'cubs.' Matthew told me that they supposedly help Nightmare Freddy--my name for that counterpart--distract their victim, but they don't kill their victim at all, only Nightmare Freddy does. I bet he'd be pissed if he found out I took one of his helpers, probably enough that he wants to murder me on sight." Grace laughed. "I don't care, though; I'm just trying to prove to others I'm not wrong when I say there are killer animatronics around."

Michael blinked a few times, not saying anything.

"Look, babe, I'll bring the cub to you when the cops are done checking it out. It'll be shut down, because it's obviously not midnight yet, but you'll see it for yourself." She kissed him on the lips once. "Also, do try to work on ways to improve our relationship, because we can make it work. Love you."

As she walked away, Michael was lost in thought about the animatronics and everything Grace mentioned to him with the Nightmares involved, followed by the mysterious scratches on his car and also thinking if the marks were from the animatronics. He still stood there in silence for a moment in confusion and fear. 

"Yeah, love you, too," he mumbled.

* * *

Still sitting in the room, Matthew leaned his head back against the locked door. He lost track of how long no one has come to rescue him, but to him, it felt like forever. He felt useless; as many times as he tried to grab someone's attention, no one would hear him. Matthew also was starving, as it's been a while since he last ate.

The sounds of Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were no longer playing, and both of those animatronics had fallen silent. Despite being trapped in a room, Matthew enjoyed hearing them sing, but now that they were no longer singing different songs, he felt a wave of boredom strike him. He sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling exhausted and hopeless as no one still never came to the door to save him.

Tired and hungry, Matthew stood back up on his feet and fiddled with the door knob again. He laid both hands on it and eventually yanked on the door to try to open it or at least to grab someone's attention. After a few tries, he collapsed back on the floor, feeling as if he would be there forever.

Matthew started to think deeply about who it was that threw him into the dark, creepy room. He began to wonder if it was Michael who thought it'd be cool to pull a mean prank on his own little brother, but Matthew wasn't too sure. He knew it couldn't have been an employee, as he thought that there was less of a chance of some heartless worker trapping an innocent kid in a room, and Matthew thought it definitely could have been his brother.

"Someone...help me!" he called out, still laying on the floor. "Is anyone there?"

His voice sounded hoarse and tired. Matthew had his eyes already open, but he closed them again, feeling himself almost fall asleep.

"Help me, please," he muttered and felt himself drifting off into a sleep.

During his sleep, he noticed that he woke up in his own bedroom again. His alarm clock read "12 AM," the same time as the past two nights he fended off the Nightmares with their little "game." Matthew sat up in his bed, confused, and glanced around the entire room.

"Um, is anyone there?" he asked. 

The sudden sound of screaming came from the other end of the house, and Matthew jumped in fear. Strangely, the screams sounded like his parents, and as he recognized the voices, he immediately ran towards the direction of them.

"Mom? Dad? Is that you?"

He stopped at the end of the hallway and looked around the house, listening carefully, and the screams suddenly stopped. Matthew kept standing in place, hearing for the sounds, of what probably were his parents, to come back again. 

Nothing.

After he checked every part of his house, Matthew ran outside, but the outdoors looked very different to him. His neighborhood no longer had the other few houses around; his home was the only one. The sky appeared to be a mix of red and black, and everything else, including the roads and grass, had the same mixture of those colors, except Matthew himself was looking normal. He turned around to look back at his house, but for some odd reason, it was no longer there.

Matthew instead saw his parents standing in front of him, their heads bent down and arms at their sides. He started to walk towards them.

"Mom? Dad? It's me, Matthew."

Neither one of them responded to him; they continued standing there like statues.

"Um, can you hear me?"

Matthew was eventually standing right in front of them. He reached his hand out, slowly yet carefully, and lifted up his mom's head, but what he saw made him scream and fall down in horror.

His mother seemed to be lifeless. Some of her hair strands were forcefully ripped out of her scalp, and her eyes were pulled out as well, though they were dangling from where her eyes were originally located. She had some layers of skin ripped off as well, almost showing her bones. Her mouth was open, frozen, and her bloody teeth were revealed, smiling at Matthew. Her whole outfit was stained with blood as well, as if she was stabbed and was bleeding from underneath.

Matthew didn't dare to look at his father, as he would probably appear the same way. 

Despite being dead, his mother's mouth began to move. She whispered in a weak voice, "Matthew, they're coming for you."

He backed up in shock as his mother's head went back to being bent down, facing towards the ground. Matthew listened as his mother kept repeating the same sentence in a faint, haunting voice. What she was saying then transitioned to her repeating his name only.

Matthew kept on listening to her bone-chilling voice, until after what felt like a lifetime, she stopped speaking to him. 

"Mom?" he asked.

His parents continued to stand in front of him, but four pairs of glowing eyes suddenly appeared behind them--two pairs were red, one was orange, and another pair was purple. Matthew couldn't make out what they were in the strange, colored outside world. 

After a short moment, his parents disappeared, leaving him with the four pairs of eyes. The environment Matthew was in then faded into blackness, and the glowing eyes stayed in place with him.

He stood there in silence, not moving or saying anything at all. Matthew watched closely as the images of the eyes vanished, and eventually, he disappeared as well; everything was now complete darkness with nothing else in sight.

Matthew quickly opened his eyes as he heard a man's voice yelling at him. He sat up, breathing rapidly, and found himself in the same room that he was sleeping in. He turned around to see a man in purple standing there with the door open, staring down at him. 

"What are you doing in here, kid?" he asked Matthew. "I don't think you're supposed to be back here."

"I was...I was just trapped in here," the child replied and slowly stood up, almost falling from his legs being asleep. "I think my brother threw me in here, and I tried calling for help, but no one would come."

"How long have you been in here?" The man adjusted his purple cap.

"I don't know. What time is it?"

He looked away from Matthew for a moment. "It's past noon."

"Oh, alright."

A blonde girl appeared next to the man in purple, wearing only one shoe on her left foot and only a sock on her right foot with her boot-like brace strapped over it, and she was shocked to see Matthew in the Parts and Service Room.

"Grace!" Matthew ran up to her and hugged her.

"Matthew? Why are you hanging out back here?" she asked him.

The man looked down at her. "Ms. Thompson, get back to work."

Grace pushed Matthew off and laid her eyes on the man. "I would soon, but I know this boy. I'm not sure what he's doing back here, but I should be concerned."

"I was pushed into that room, but I think Michael did it," Matthew told her. "After what he's done to me, it would make sense he would trap me in here."

"Grace!" the man in purple exclaimed. "I said to get back to work!"

"No!" she immediately yelled back. "This is my boyfriend's brother, and he just said he was trapped! I have a right to do something about this situation!"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Whatever, but good luck risking yourself to get fired."

Matthew looked past Grace and glanced around the diner, searching for Michael, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. The little brother ran away from the man and Grace, and he frantically examined multiple rooms to see if Michael was in any of them.

"Matthew, what are you doing?" Grace chased after him, limping and running slower than usual from her injury. "Who are you looking for?"

"Michael!" Matthew replied. "I don't think he's here. Did he really leave me here alone? He abandoned me!"

Grace widened her eyes and started to also look around. "Wait, did he really?"

"Yes! He was here when I was trapped in that room, but I just think he didn't care about what he did to me and left me."

She shook her head and mumbled, "That son of a bitch!"

"What?" 

"Oh, nothing, Matthew." Grace placed her hands on his shoulders and bent down to look at him. "Look, like what Purple Guy said, I need to work. We need to do something about you."

"I don't want to stay here; the animatronics and mascots scare me."

"Okay. How about I get one of my friends to come pick you up?"

He only nodded his head at her.

"I'll get my best friend, Lauren, to come pick you up." Grace smiled bigger. "Get some more sleep after Lauren gets you. I haven't slept for almost three days, but don't worry about me; I'll be fine. You deserve the rest you need. We need to be prepared for tonight, alright?"

Matthew nodded again.

"Alright." She patted one of his shoulders. "I'm going to call Lauren and see if she's available. If not, I'll call Amber, my other friend."

"Where would either one of them take me?"

"Either your house or their home," Grace said. "It's whatever you want."

"Okay."

She frowned and sighed. "I'll also tell them why I want you to be picked up, because Michael decided to be a jerk to you. You know, he shouldn't have done that to you. You deserve to be treated better than to be pushed around like that; that's why you have me, so I can make up some of those moments of you being bullied by him. I'm starting to think that I should end our relationship because of what I'm hearing from you."


	20. Chapter 20

Walking awkwardly around the diner, Grace kept taking glances down at her foot brace as she proceeded to do her work. Her boss was watching her with concern, seeing her lean more to one side from every step she took on her right foot, and he also noticed her trying to hide the pain. Grace was unaware of him watching her, and she started to clean up the final spots of tables in the party room, thinking she was alone in the room.

She stared up at the clock on the wall. The big hand on it was close to the number 12 with the shorter hand past the seven. Grace, once again using the same tool to clean, folded up the washcloth in silence and carried it with her to the kitchen. She screamed as an arm suddenly grabbed her, and she immediately snatched the arm with her free hand, forcing the arm off hers. 

"Grace, wait!" The boss revealed himself from around the corner. "It's only me!"

"Why the hell did you do that?" she yelled and sighed, lowering her voice. "I had a mini heart attack because of you!"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just wanted to see what was up with you."

"I'm doing just great. Why? Is something on your mind?"

He crossed his arms. "Grace, I'm going to be brutally honest with you about something. Now, this is about your injury near your foot. You've been making up lies; I know you have."

"No, I haven't. Please stop bothering me about it." Grace walked around her boss, but as he quickly moved himself in front of her, Grace saw him grab ahold of her again, and she tried to break free from his grip. "Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me the truth," her boss told her. "Listen, I'm concerned about you, and I won't let you leave this place until you tell me. I'm not mad at you, but I will be if you continue to lie to me."

"No!" Grace yelled and pushed him back. "It'll all sound unbelievable to you!"

He grasped both of her arms once again, and she tried to fight back a second time. "Grace, calm down, please. As crazy as it sounds, I won't judge you at all. We are like family here at Fredbear's, and just like a real family member, I would be willing to listen to whatever is on your mind."

Grace said nothing and kept trying to break her arms free from his hands. She began to feel tears running down her face.

"Grace..."

"Fuck you! Let me go, or I'll report you!" 

He stared at her with a serious look and continued to stay calm, despite Grace going crazy and making the whole situation worse. "I'm not trying to hurt you. There's no need to report me if I'm trying to help you. Obviously, now looking at you, there's a lot more than just your injury that you have going on."

"Just let me go, please!"

"I have been watching you, Grace," her boss explained. "Not only are you in moderate pain, but you have more than that going on. I saw you having a panic attack once you accidentally made a mess when volunteering to serve a group of customers; now, that's not the real you--I know that for myself. Also, when have you last slept? I can see you have bags under your eyes, but I also know not sleeping for at least a day affects your emotional state."

Grace bent her head down, trying to hide her tears, and remained silent.

"Obviously, the customers you kept apologizing to were concerned for you, like I was. Grace, do not tell me you're sleeping just fine; I know you haven't."

She didn't say anything and continued to cry.

"Please, tell me what's wrong, Grace. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'd tell if you let me go."

"Alright." Her boss took his hands off her arms. "Be truthful with me. Don't lie, or I will be unhappy."

"Can we...go into another room, please?" She kept her head bent down, facing towards the ground. "I don't want others to hear, because...they'll think I'm insane."

"Yes, we may. Come on." He offered his hand out to her, and Grace lifted her head up, staring at it. "Don't want to? Okay."

He and Grace made their way into the party room she was just in. She sat down at one of the tables, and her boss sat down next to her on the end part of the table. He rested his arms on it and looked over at Grace, who kept her eyes on the table and not on her boss.

"Grace, look at me," he said. 

She slowly turned her head towards him, revealing her baggy eyelids and her red face from her short meltdown. She blinked a couple times at him and refused to talk to him for a bit.

"Tell me: what is it that's keeping you from functioning around here properly? Be honest, and don't lie to me again. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with you so I can help you."

"You promise not to judge me?"

"I promise, Grace."

Grace sighed and hesitated. "Well, it's just that the murders around town here have been affecting me in a way. I've come across the murderers myself and so has this boy I've been 'babysitting' named Matthew. We've been through a bit with these vicious killers, and I know we're only going to go through more."

"You've come across the culprit of these mysterious disappearances? There's actually more than one? Do you know who they are?"

"Uh, I'm going to be honest here; they're...not human." Grace immediately turned away from her boss. 

"What do you mean by that?"

"They're...animatronics," she mumbled. 

"I'm sorry?"

"They're animatronics!" she hollered and faced herself back towards him. "They're machines! Robots! Whatever you want to call them!"

Her boss was in awe by her response, but he proceeded to listen and talk to her without judging. "They are animatronics? What animatronics are they exactly?"

"You know the Freddy Fazbear characters? The animatronics I've seen at night have a more menacing and evil appearance. Each one of them are extremely tattered and broken with holes in almost every part of their bodies. They all have claws so sharp that if a person were to be stabbed, the claws would dig their way through a whole body. They also have glowing eyes that if you stared right into them, you'd get a wave of fear. They just look way different overall, and I...I feel terrified right now just talking about them." Grace nervously giggled. "I may be very exhausted, but I tried to be descriptive and think of the right words. How'd I do for no sleep for roughly two days? I think I did alright.

"Anyways, I always felt hesitant to tell you," she continued. "Of course you may think I'm just hallucinating from my lack of sleep, but I've been seeing them with my own eyes before a single hint of insomnia kicked in. These guys come out at midnight and last until six AM. That's why when I leave work, I'm going to make sure that Matthew boy and I are prepared to survive another night for those six hours. I've been checking on Matthew to see if he's been sleeping well, but I haven't. He deserves the sleep that he needs, but I don't, because I can handle not sleeping. You wonder why I've been looking and acting so exhausted? That is clearly why.

"Believe it or not, I have captured one of these animatronics, but here's the thing: there are smaller ones, too. This scary Freddy counterpart, that created this injury near my foot, has his own robotic cubs; as crazy as it sounds, it's true. Before the time reached six AM earlier this morning, I kidnapped one of the three cubs and took it to the cops for them to check it out. Of course, because it's not midnight yet, the cub is shut off for now, but the police actually saw it with their own eyes and got their hands on it. I asked if I could have it back when they're done examining it, because I'm not too sure if Mr. Fazfucker knows I took one of his miniature helpers. Just in case, I'm bringing it back to him before he's active again for the night.

"Now, if you're curious for more info about them, I managed to actually name these animatronics. Yes, they still have their official names, but I threw in the term 'Nightmare' in front of each one of their real names. Where did I come up with that word? Well, obviously if they appear as if they belong in a dream, that's a really good name for them. I hope their new names--like Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, and so on--become their official ones when the news about them is spread more. With me reporting this to the police, though, I believe they'll announce information about the animatronics with my names for them. I mean, we can't refer them to the original Freddy Fazbear characters if they don't look or act like them. 

"I originally found out these bastards act more like animals than actual animatronics; well, I know they are technically animals, but they do act as if they're real rabid animals. Once you're in their sight, they have a desire to injure or murder you. If they acted like real animatronics, almost every victim in this town wouldn't be killed off, and they'd be alive right now. How many people have been reported missing? It's been almost two weeks, and I believe over half a hundred people are now vanished forever. Again, if they were programmed like actual animatronics, these people wouldn't be dead because of them.

"Oh, sorry that I extended my answer like that; I guess I just wanted to let you know what's been going on. Now, I really do apologize, though. I lost track of thought and kept on talking," Grace finished, sighing.

Her boss sat there in silence with his eyes widened in shock. He couldn't find the right words to respond to Grace's short story.

"I'm also sorry if I kept you. I should be heading home now." She stood up and wiped any leftover tears she had on her face. "Just if I were you, I'd stay up tonight and be on alert for...you know. If I never see you again, you'd understand why just from that long explanation I gave you; in case that situation ever happens, it was great working for you and this establishment."

He continued sitting in silence as Grace walked out of the empty party room, hearing her one pair of heeled shoes click against the hardwood floor. He still couldn't find a response from what she told him, as he was in that much shock.

* * *

Later that night, before it struck midnight, Grace sat on Matthew's bed and held the cub--that she previously took--in her arms. Matthew himself was sitting on the floor beside his bed, holding the flashlight in his hands. He stood up on his feet and stared at Grace with fear.

"Why are we even here at my house?" he asked her. 

"For one thing, I know the Nightmares want you here, and I personally want to make sure you're safe," Grace replied, looking down at the cub and holding it like a human infant but eventually laying her eyes back on Matthew. "Also, we'll have to avoid the animatronics like this for now until we can figure something out."

"Why can't you just destroy that thing?" Matthew pointed at the cub. "Nightmare Freddy uses it and the other two cubs to distract me!"

"It doesn't try to kill us. I'd rather destroy the animatronics who really attempt to murder us than these little fellas. If one of these smaller guys tried to bite us, it would really cause an injury, but it wouldn't be enough to actually murder someone."

"I guess that's true." He sighed and sat down on the floor, looking up at his alarm clock. "We got two minutes."

"Thanks for the heads up." Grace kept staring down at the cub she was holding.

Matthew quickly moved the flashlight around in boredom, allowing the light to shine in multiple places across the room. He took many deep breaths, letting himself relax before midnight struck. 

Grace, too, was in fear, but she mostly felt exhaustion from not sleeping for a while. She blinked a few times as she noticed strange black specs in the corner of her eyes, but she knew she was just hallucinating as a result of no sleep. Grace yawned once and rubbed her eyes with one of her hands, while she kept Nightmare Freddy's cub in her other arm.

Matthew saw her yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Why don't you sleep after this night? Hate to brag, but I was able to sleep for seven hours this afternoon; I got decent sleep."

"I don't care about sleep now. I may try to get some rest after six AM tonight, but beforehand, I couldn't sleep because of my fear of dying. Honestly, stop fearing about me, Matthew. You're the one who deserves sleep more than me."

He hesitated for a moment. "Um, Grace."

"Yeah?"

"After you brought that cub to the police, what are they really going to do? Are they going to help kill off these animatronics?"

"I really hope so." Grace glanced at the alarm clock, which now turned to 11:59 PM, and focused her eyes back on Matthew. "The cub should've been enough to prove to the cops that there are obviously murderous animatronics running around town. If that doesn't prove it to them, then I don't know, but they are really considering getting the FBI or the other parts of the government involved."

Matthew turned off the flashlight and sat it down in front of him. "I really don't like the idea of killer animatronics running around."

"I know, Matthew, but we'll get rid of them soon." She yawned again from tiredness and almost collapsed on the bed. "We got another night to...get through..."

He immediately noticed Grace closing her eyes, while she was sitting up, and he jumped on his bed without hesitation. Matthew placed his hands on Grace's shoulders and shook her, telling her to wake up.

"Oh, my bad, Matthew." She opened her eyes and roughly rubbed them once again. "How long haven't I slept? A day? Two days? I don't know."

"Almost three days," he corrected her. "I also heard you say earlier that three days is 72 hours. That's a long time."

Grace only nodded her head at him.

"Tired or not, I want you to be alive, too." 

"Yeah...I need to be alive." She felt herself closing her eyes again, but she forced them back open. "I need to..."

"Please don't fall asleep on me. You don't want me dead, and I don't want you dead."

Grace remained silent for a moment. "For me being tired, I was just fine here and at work. Sure I kind of made some...unexpected mistakes at work, but...my body is really telling me I...need to sleep...now."

"Don't sleep!"

"I'm trying not to, Matthew." She nervously smiled at him. "Trying not to."

Matthew stared back at his alarm clock, which still read the same time, and he turned towards Grace. "I think we have just a few seconds. Please, Grace, stay with me. Like you said, I can't fight off the Nightmares myself. I thought I was brave on my own, but I guess not."

Despite being completely out of it, Grace knew what he was talking about, and she hugged him. "I'll try my hardest to stay awake tonight, alright? I'll get some sleep after the time hits six."

"Yes. I need you with me."

She stopped hugging Matthew as she suddenly thought of something. Grace pulled out her phone, that she'd sometimes carry with her, and began to dial a number. Matthew wondered what she was doing, but she told him to stay silent.

After what felt like forever in total silence, Grace began talking on the phone, and Matthew listened to her.

"Hey, Mother, Father, it's me," she said in a groggy voice. "I know you two are probably sleeping right now, but I just want to say that I'm watching my boyfriend's little brother for the night. Um, there is something going on around town from midnight to six AM, so please, please be on alert for anything suspicious or mysterious. Also, please stay safe. I'd explain all of this later, but this situation is a matter of life or death. If I never see you again, I just want you to know that I love you, and I'd miss you. You two have been great parents, and if I'm somehow dead tonight, remember that I'd be in a better place. If I'm alive, I'll tell everything to you, but for now, I'm in a dangerous situation here. Don't call the cops, because they already know; I've told them beforehand. Goodbye."

Matthew watched as Grace set the phone down next to her, and she began to cry. She covered her face with her hands, and he heard her sniffling a few times behind her tears. He sat next to her and laid his head on her shoulder.

The alarm clock suddenly struck midnight, and the two watched in horror as it turned. Grace sighed and wiped some of her tears away, while Matthew grabbed the flashlight off the ground and turned it on.

"Well, this is the third night we'd encounter them," he told her. "Let's do this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while. I've been busy. On top of things involving my vocational rehabilitation program and visiting family on the weekend, even doing some things in my free time including streaming on my Xbox, I haven't had the time to get around to this story. Part of me also not updating this was because of stress and shit.


	21. Chapter 21

Not much time has passed since the alarm clock hit 12 AM, and Grace and Matthew were already feeling terrified. The room fell completely silent as the two listened carefully for any signs of the animatronics, but what seemed to be the only visible sound was the wind from the outside. A couple of the trees against Matthew's window kept hitting their branches against it, creating a tapping sound. Other than the wind and the new sound of the trees against the window, there was no other noises.

Though exhausted, Grace tried her hardest to stay awake and alert to watch out for any of the Nightmares; she happened to jump off the bed and walk back and forth around it. Matthew, noticing her walking behind him multiple times, kept shining the flashlight on his two doors and his closet door, but he never saw any animatronics. Grace reminded Matthew that she was watching the bed in case Nightmare Freddy would ever appear.

12:07 PM--it still wasn't that far past midnight. The both of them kept on listening to any suspicious or strange noises that they'd hear for. The haunting sounds of the wind continued from outside the house, and it seemed to have gone on and off, going from complete silence to the same chilling noise that the clouds in the sky have made. In some instances, the same tapping sound from one of the trees kept on going, making the environment appear more creepy to Matthew and Grace.

It seemed odd to the two of them that there was no sign of the Nightmares. According to Matthew, they would typically come out and target him once the clock struck 12, but all he and Grace heard and saw was nothing, other than the noises outside to induce fear in both of them. At the same time, Matthew felt confused but happy that the animatronics were not at his home right away. He'd rather much get a short break from fending off terrifying animatronics than to get into action immediately.

Grace sat back on his bed and noticed the cub she captured the night before was gone. She nervously giggled and laid back on the whole bed, soon frowning and sighing. She placed her hands over her stomach and forced her eyes to stay open. In case she ever tried to fall asleep, Grace kept using her fingers to pinch her arms, and after a while, it seemed to have a little bit of effectiveness. She was still drained, but she noticed she felt a little more motivated.

Matthew ran to one of his bedroom doors and listened for a Nightmare, but nothing was there. He made his way to the other door and heard carefully for any breathing, but there was also nothing. In case something were to pop out at him, he kept shining the light in many spots in both hallways as a way to get the Nightmares away from him. Matthew neglected the closet, as he knew that Grace could watch out for Nightmare Foxy, despite the whole room being extremely dark.

Grace sat up in the bed and stood up on the ground. Her legs began to shake from both tiredness and panic, but she still managed to move around without any problems. She slowly kneeled down and lifted up the dangling bed sheets, checking for Nightmare Freddy, but he was nowhere to be found underneath there.

"Matthew!" Grace called. "You seeing anything?"

"Nothing for me!" Matthew replied and walked back towards the bed. "Why is it that they're not here? Not that I want them here, but I am a bit confused. Are they just killing other people right now?"

"They probably are," she told him and sat on the door of the bed. "Look, if they're not here, we don't have to worry. I'll know that they're with us if we hear anything. So far, there is no growling, no breathing--that I know of--no pounding, and definitely no glowing eyes under your bed. Everything is silent here."

"I only hear the wind, though."

"Well, yes, we hear the wind, but we don't hear any animatronics." Grace shook one of her legs up and down. "Since they're not here, can I use your bathroom? Walk with me, so we don't split up and one of us suddenly end up dead. When we get there, keep the flashlight handy with you, and whatever you do, don't leave until I'm out."

Matthew nodded his head at her. "Yeah, sure. I'll lead you."

Grace allowed him to walk in front of her, and she followed right behind him. As he was walking slowly towards the bathroom, Matthew kept the flashlight shining all around in case a Nightmare suddenly appeared behind or in front of them. Grace felt her heart beat faster as she examined every spot of the darkened hallway, but her heart raced even more as she began to fear that she'd get jumpscared by something. Matthew felt the same way, but like her, he tried his hardest to stay brave.

The two finally reached the bathroom after what felt like several minutes. Grace thanked Matthew for the help and shut the door behind her. He leaned up against the door and shined the flashlight all around the hallway.

"Are you fine with no light in there?" he asked. "I know it's dark, but I'm sure some light would help you."

"The flashlight you are holding is the only source of light we have right now," Grace answered from behind the door. "Listen, I know it's hard to see in here, but don't worry about me. I'm completely fine going without a light."

Around five minutes later, Matthew was still standing outside the bathroom, waiting for Grace. He still saw no signs of any Nightmares anywhere, but he kept fearing that they'd show up any minute. He began to breathe heavily from fear, but he later closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing rate.

Grace eventually opened the bathroom door, and Matthew moved out of her way.

"Sorry for the wait." She stood next to him. "I had some girl stuff to take care of. Normally, it's easy, but with complete darkness in there, it took me longer than I thought. Again, don't worry; it's done and over with."

"What girl stuff?"

"You'll hear about it when you're older." Grace grabbed ahold of his hand. "Come on. Let's go back to your bedroom."

Both of them walked back towards Matthew's room, carefully looking around for the Nightmares, but luckily, none of them were in sight, not even any sound from them was heard. In relief, Matthew and Grace ran into the room and quickly made their way on the bed.

"What time is it?" Grace laid back on the bed in exhaustion and stared up at the ceiling. 

"12:14." Matthew sat next to her, shutting off the flashlight. "Feels like it's been an hour, though."

"I'm just wondering--" She rested the back of her head on both of her arms. "How terrifying are the animatronics to you?"

"Very terrifying. Why?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, to me, they're just animatronics. I get they're still vicious and hostile, and they have a desire to kill us, but they are just robots. I'd rather much deal with the Nightmares than those other weird creatures in older horror movies; those creatures are twice as big and powerful as the Nightmares."

"What creatures? What do they look like?"

She laughed at him. "Matthew, they're from movies for adults like me. I'd rather not say."

"Alright."

"Well, I also want to say that--" Grace paused as a sudden loud pounding sound came from the right hallway. "Oh, I guess that's them."

Matthew closely watched as she jumped up from the bed and ran over to the door. She slowly cracked the door open and stared down the hallway, seeing which Nightmare was creating the noise.

"Oh, hell no!" Grace screamed as she ran away from the door, the sound of metallic feet running after her. "Flashlight, Matthew!"

Grace fell on the floor right beside him, and Matthew scrambled to get his finger on the button.

"Hurry up!" She grabbed Matthew, standing him up with her, and they both moved back against the wall.

"I'm trying!" 

With shaky hands, he tried his best to get a grip on the button. Successfully hovering his finger over it, he pressed the button and shined the light on the right door. The nightmarish form of Chica appeared in the door, and she immediately hid around the corner as soon as the light hit her. She softly growled at them as she began to leave the door.

"Thanks for that." Grace's breathing sped up. "She mostly could've gotten the both of us."

Matthew himself was breathing heavily, too. "Yeah, she could've."

"Alright, we know they're here. Remember, I'll watch the bed and closet--as I believe I can easily see in the dark here--while you watch the bedroom doors. Deal?"

"Deal."

Grace sat back on the bed and watched Matthew shine the flashlight down the hallways. She rubbed her eyes even more and squinted them to adjust her eyesight. Despite her almost 65 hours of no sleep, which would normally cause poor vision at that point, she was able to make out every detail of Matthew's pitch black bedroom. She saw no sign of Nightmare Foxy as more time went by. Grace also bent herself upside down a few times to check for Nightmare Freddy, but like the Foxy counterpart, he was nowhere to be seen.

Matthew slammed the left door shut as soon as he heard Nightmare Bonnie breathing from behind the closed door. He shut off the flashlight and placed it in his lap, listening closely for the animatronic bunny to walk away. Matthew leaned his head against the door, feeling his heart pulse inside his head. After a moment of keeping the door shut, he heard Nightmare Bonnie leave, and he opened the door back up, shining the light down the hallway.

"Get out of here now!" Grace suddenly yelled, and Matthew turned back to look at her. "Go!"

Grace saw Nightmare Freddy's three cubs climb on Matthew's bed, but she knocked them off before they could do anything to her. One cub did try to bite her, but Grace was able to pick it up and throw it off the bed before it could really hurt her in any way.

"Can't stop me with those little bastards! You hear me, Nightmare Freddy?" She had faced herself upside down again to look under the bed, but she soon sat back up. "Huh? You hear me? I don't know if you're hiding or not, but those cubs won't get in my way! You think you're tough?"

Meanwhile, as Matthew was checking the two doors--at one point, he did check the closet--Grace screamed as a brown hand with sharp claws unexpectedly touched her shoulder. She jumped off the bed in shock and felt as if her heart skipped an entire beat.

Nightmare Freddy stood on the opposite side of the bed, staring deeply into Grace's eyes. He let out a deep, soft growl as he kept his eyes on her, also not moving a single muscle, but he seemed as if he'd attack any second.

"Woah...easy there...Nightmare...Freddy," she said in between quick breaths. "I was just...messing...with...you. I'm tired as hell, so...please know that."

Grace kept watching him in horror and held up her hands in defense if he ever lunged out at her. She took a quick glance at Matthew, who was feeling terrified as well. Without being hesitant, Matthew ran over from a door that he closed and shined the light on Nightmare Freddy.

The animatronic bear let out a more aggressive growl as he covered his eyes from the light. He took one of his hands, still covering his eyes with the other, and knocked the flashlight out of Matthew's hands. The light remained on, as the flashlight was laying on the floor and survived the short fall, but it was no longer shining on him. He ran over and grabbed the flashlight before Matthew could, and Nightmare Freddy threw it against the wall, completely breaking it.

"No!" Matthew hollered. "Why?"

Nightmare Freddy kept on staring at the child in response, but he soon looked over at Grace, who was still standing in fear and in a defensive position. The nightmarish bear kneeled on the bed and lunged out at Grace. Before she could make a run for it, she noticed Nightmare Freddy landing on his own two feet, suddenly pushing her against the wall and grasping his hand tightly around her neck. 

Grace tried to pull his hand off, but he was too strong. She felt herself burst into tears as she begged Matthew to help her. She closed her eyes as more tears streamed down her face, and with them closed, she never dared to look back into the Freddy counterpart's evil eyes. 

Nightmare Freddy took a peek at Matthew--who was now running out of the room--and with his tight grip still around Grace's neck, he kept taking heavily deep breaths through his mouth, staring back at her. 

Grace kept her eyes closed and felt her whole body shake in fear. "Let me go, please!"

Nightmare Freddy never listened to her. He took his other hand and raised it up in the air, soon revealing his claws. He let out another soft growl before quickly stabbing his claws into four layers of skin right underneath Grace's chest. She screamed out loudly in pain and continued to cry as she opened her eyes and saw his claws digging right through her body. She saw the outside drip blood as Nightmare Freddy kept his claws inside of her. Not too long after, Grace began to cough violently until he finally let go of her.

Grace coughed a few more times and collapsed on the ground, feeling as if she was going to pass out. She called out for Matthew, but she couldn't find him anywhere in the dark room. Through her blurry vision, she looked up at Nightmare Freddy, who was staring back down at her. He laughed in his deep voice, and not knowing if she was hallucinating or not, she heard him talk for the very first time. 

"We do not appreciate obstacles blocking our way from our victims. Now that you're done, Matthew is free from you and is all ours now."


	22. Chapter 22

Grace kept on staring up at Nightmare Freddy, watching him as he was hovering his head over hers. She laid both of her hands over her upper abdomen, feeling some blood stain her hands from where Nightmare Freddy stabbed her. Grace placed her head back on the ground, looking away from the bear animatronic, and continued to cry in pain.

"You are no more, my dear," he said in his evil voice and laughed at her. "You think you're so tough rescuing that poor child? Now that you can't, we can continue our game with him without any interruptions."

She coughed violently a couple times. "I have...the right to...take him from you, you...bastard!"

Nightmare Freddy chuckled at her again. "No, you do not. Trust me, when I say this, Grace: humans like you are not as strong as we are. Again, you thought you'd easily avoid us while taking this weak child with you, but look at you now; you couldn't escape me when you had the chance. You know, it's so funny seeing you on the ground like that--all in pain and crying like a worthless little girl. 

"Now, as you'd guess, the idea of murdering our victims is a fun thing for us. The sight of blood is satisfying to me and my friends, and just by laying my eyes on you, it's quite a sight to see you bleeding out like that. Pain is another thing I tend to inflict on my victims, as I enjoy watching them suffer from me stabbing my claws within their bodies. Once again, look at you on the ground in such pain; it's really hilarious and satisfying to me to have you hurt.

"Unlike my friends, though, I normally torment my victims by teasing and distracting them with my own minions. I see you've thrown them off the bed, but that would not stop me from coming after you; that just makes me feel a lot more motivated to chase you down and torment you even more. Sweetie, why just make yourself more vulnerable to me? You know that I'll love coming after you more than beforehand."

Grace closed her eyes. "Shut up! Everyone knows...about you! I...told the cops! They will...come after...you...and your...friends! You will all...be...destroyed! Destroyed, Nightmare Freddy!"

He continued to stare down at her. "Is that so? You really gave away our secretive presence? What's simply telling those damn cops going to do? What's it to you that you'd think you could get away with doing such a thing? I doubt they would believe anything that leaves that pathetic mouth of yours, because I imagine that all they'd hear are just straight-up unbelievable statements. Oh, lying is so wrong; how dare you say such false things! I find it hilarious you really embarrassed yourself like that."

"And killing isn't wrong?" 

"Not to me, no. My friends and I find it as a hobby of ours. What have I mentioned to you? It's a fun sight to induce pain and suffering in all of our victims. Have you not heard me say all of this? You must have some object in your ears or just have selective hearing, because you clearly have not listened to me."

"Yes, I...have, and well, guess what? You're...the immoral one...here! Murdering innocent...people...is all wrong!" she yelled and reopened her eyes. "Who built you? They need to be...executed!"

"That is a secret meant to be untold. No one will ever know our creator, not even you." Nightmare Freddy walked away from Grace. "Now, stop speaking to me. Remain quiet, and let yourself slowly shut down from the inside out. Goodbye, Grace."

She reached her hand out towards him. "Hey! Come...back here...now!"

He ignored her and crawled back under the bed, leaving Grace to bleed out until her heart, breathing, and overall body would stop functioning. 

Grace kept laying on the ground, groaning and crying in pain. She took her hands off her body and noticed great amounts of blood trickling down her shaky hands. She kept breathing heavily and quickly, and she felt her blurry vision grow worse and worse. Desperate, Grace called out for Matthew many times, but she never heard a response.

After what felt like a lifetime, she heard the sound of tiny feet running into the room. Through her blurry vision, she saw Matthew making his way towards her with a new flashlight and a towel in his hands. He turned off the light and kneeled down next to her, examining her whole body. He lifted up her shirt, and Grace felt something press against her upper stomach.

"I heard you scream in pain, and I assumed a Nightmare got you," Matthew told her, trying to hold in his fear of seeing her injured. "I also figured I would call for an ambulance in that case, so I did. They'll be here soon."

"Thank...you." Grace placed her bloody hands over the towel. "By any...chance, did you...hear...someone talk? I could've swore...Nightmare Freddy...spoke...to me, or am I just...hallucinating?"

"I thought I heard something coming from my room." He noticed Grace's hands touched his, but he didn't flinch from the blood that was hitting his skin. "I didn't know they could talk to us, but I guess they actually can."

She wiped her hand on a clean part of the towel and soon placed it on her forehead. "Is the...ambulance here? I'm worried...I'm going to die...right now."

"I-I don't k-know."

"Well...if you go check...you can't leave me...here...alone."

Matthew smirked as he thought of an idea, and he lowered his voice. "Play dead."

"What's that...going to do?"

"Look, I can't think of anything else right now," he whispered. "The Nightmares may be smart, but they may not fall for you pretending to be dead. Do that while I go look for the ambulance."

"If it'll work...go ahead. I'll try and fake...death the best I...can."

Matthew nodded once at her and ran out of the room, leaving Grace out in the open by herself. 

After being left alone, she grabbed the towel pressed against her skin and hid it underneath her shirt. Grace laid on her side and closed her eyes, trying to look as if she was completely dead. To make her "death" even more realistic, she forced herself to stop moving her stomach, appearing as if she has stopped breathing for good.

Grace continued to lay in place for what seemed like a lifetime, and she was able to get away with her act. At one point, she felt someone breathing over her, and she knew this was a Nightmare and no actual human being. She could not tell who it was, but Grace tried her hardest not to move any part of her body. Not too long after, the Nightmare walked away in silence from Grace's "dead" body.

She opened one eye and noticed Nightmare Bonnie walking out of the room. Once out of her sight, Grace glanced around the room with her one eye to check for any more animatronics, but although there were none in sight, she went back to faking her death.

"In here!" Grace heard Matthew yell a minute later, leading two paramedics in the room. "She's been stabbed and is almost dying! Save her!"

As Matthew stood back from the paramedics, shining the new flashlight across his whole room, both paramedics--a man and woman--rushed in and bent down next to Grace. She opened her eyes and saw them starting their job on getting her ready to be taken to the hospital.

"How has she been stabbed, young man?" the woman asked. "Do you know?"

"It sounds crazy, but there are these killer animatronics going around town," he replied. "Just ask Grace; she also thinks those are responsible for all these murders going on!"

"He's...not wrong," Grace mumbled. "I have been...injured by...one of them; he...stabbed me. Matthew--" She turned to look towards the child. "--check if...Nightmare Freddy is still...under there."

"Will do." Matthew took a moment to lift up his sheets and look underneath his bed. "He is! If I were you, you two need to hurry up and take Grace before he or his friends get you!"

The woman stood up, confused. "What are you on about? Let me see if this 'Nightmare Freddy' guy is real. This all sounds like your imagination, little guy, but don't worry; I know it's mostly your mind playing tricks on you."

"Are you crazy...you bitch?" Grace hollered, causing all of them to look at her. "Don't...do it! Matthew isn't crazy! I've seen the animatronic...myself...with my own eyes!"

The man sitting next to her lifted up her head and began to wrap a breathing tube around her face. "Are you sure you've really seen him and these other...'animatronics?'"

"I'm...someone who's...honest, but I'm also...brutally honest. Truthful people like me...don't lie." She sighed, knowing that she has told lies before, but this situation she was facing was nothing she'd make up. "I've...told the cops before. They are really going to...investigate this situation going on...around town, and...they may get the...FBI or overall...government in this."

"She's not lying," Matthew commented and ran to the door, only to unexpectedly run into another man in a police uniform. "Oh, I didn't know you'd come here."

"I just heard on my radio that someone here was stabbed," the cop said and entered the room. "Since I was in the area, I figured I'd come just in case."

Grace blinked a few times, trying to fix her blurry vision. "Who are you?"

"Ms. Thompson? It's me, Officer Nelson. Do I look familiar?" He kneeled down next to her. "I've heard you were stabbed after that little boy called a 911 operator. Just ask me this: did an animatronic stab you again, or was it a real human murderer?"

"An animatronic. They're all here with us, though, and...I wish these...paramedics would just hurry up! I don't...want them dead either like me!"

The woman had carried a piece of equipment which appeared like a stretcher but with no wheels, and she set it next to Grace. "Hold on, Miss! We're trying our best!"

Nelson stood up as well and turned on his own flashlight. "Well, I'm going to look for these supposedly real animatronics. Excuse me for a second."

"Nelson, no!" Grace yelled. "You'll die! Listen to me...please..."

She suddenly laid on the ground with her stomach facing towards the ceiling, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. The paramedics were able to still feel her heart beating, but they still didn't want her to die on them without a warning. Both used as much equipment as they could to prevent her from losing blood or oxygen.

Matthew rushed towards her, but Nelson stopped him. "What's going on with her? Is she dying?"

"No, she's just unconscious; she's still alive, but she's not awake," the woman told him and helped put Grace on the stretcher-like bed. "She will make it, though--just trust us."

"Is she going to...for real?"

The man smiled at him. "Yes. We'll make sure she recovers with no problems."

Matthew watched in fear as Grace was carried away by the paramedics. The sight of her unconscious body made him cry, and he was also worried that she wouldn't make it. Nelson placed his arm around Matthew's shoulders as Grace was taken out of both of their sights.

The cop bent down in front of Matthew. "Listen here, fella. Do not worry about me. I'll look around for these animatronics, and if I need help for some reason, I'll get more cops over here. For now, leave the job to me."

"But you'll die, like what Grace said," Matthew replied, feeling more fear build up in him. "Can't you just listen to us?"

"Alright, look--I'll do a quick check, and that would be it. If I come across one or more of these monsters, I'll call for backup, or ain't that still not something you'd want me to do? I don't want to be cocky, but I am an authority figure here, and I have the right to thoroughly investigate."

"And I have a right to be concerned about your safety. People also care about protecting cops, too, like how cops care about protecting people."

Nelson nervously smiled. "You actually do have a point there, but...hold on while I do a quick check."

Matthew shut off his flashlight as Nelson turned his back on. The police officer shined his light down the hallways, in the closet, and then under the bed. Matthew covered his mouth, terrified that a Nightmare might suddenly jump out at Nelson and murder him.

"So far, nothing." Nelson double-checked every part near and in the room once again. "I don't think anything is here, young man."

"Um..." Matthew stood still in fear, noticing glowing orange eyes behind the cop. 

Nelson stared at him, confused, and quickly turned around. He nearly screamed as he met suddenly met eyes with Nightmare Freddy. The animatronic was looking down at him with his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Woah!" Nelson backed up and moved himself next to Matthew. "Is that one of the animatronics you and Grace have been talking about, Matthew?"

Matthew quickly nodded his head at him. 

"Hey, you!" the cop yelled at Nightmare Freddy.

Nelson pulled out his gun and fired multiple shots at him, and Matthew covered his ears from the loud sounds. Strangely, the nightmarish bear was unaffected by all the bullets being fired at him. A couple went inside of his holes on his body, but they still haven't done any damage to him.

"It's obviously not working!" Matthew exclaimed, his ears still covered. "Shine your light!"

Nelson started to reach for his flashlight, while backing up away from the animatronic, but Nightmare Freddy had pulled the gun out of his hands, throwing it on the floor. Before he could get his hands on the flashlight in his belt, though, Nelson felt his arm being grabbed by Nightmare Freddy. The robotic bear growled loudly and aggressively at the cop.

"Stop, Nightmare Freddy!" Matthew ran in front of Nelson. "You leave him alone!"

Nightmare Freddy focused his eyes on Matthew and suddenly shoved him aside. Matthew fell beside the Freddy counterpart, and he watched as Nightmare Freddy got even closer to Nelson.

"I said to leave him alone!" Matthew carefully, yet quickly, jumped up on the animatronic's back and started to hit him. "He doesn't deserve to die!"

Nightmare Freddy growled once again and grabbed ahold of Matthew, reaching his arms back, picking him up, and throwing him to the side a second time. Matthew groaned from pain after his head landed against his dresser. This time, however, he couldn't find the strength to get back up to protect Nelson again.

Nelson kept backing up until he felt himself hit the wall. "No! Don't kill me, you monster!"

Matthew's eyes widened, watching as the animatronic kept getting closer and closer to the officer.

"This is Officer Nelson," the cop said in his small radio. "I'm gonna need some help over here!"

After Nelson read off Matthew's house address, Nightmare Freddy dug one of his sets of claws all the way through Nelson's stomach, and Matthew could see the tips of Nightmare Freddy's claws on the backside of Nelson. Blood spilled out from where the police officer was stabbed, and the sound of Nelson screaming in pain made Matthew scream as well. To only make matters worse, Nightmare Freddy took his hand out and started using both sets of claws to scratch Nelson in many places on his body, causing him to scream even more. 

The animatronic then dug his claws in Nelson's eyes, forcefully pulling both of them out; blood also ran down from where they were located. Nightmare Freddy, with his final part of his attack, cut a huge gap in Nelson's neck, causing more amounts of blood to pour out. The cop lost his voice, as he stopped screaming, and Matthew watched in horror and silence as Nelson collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious and lifeless.

* * *

Grace slowly opened her eyes and spotted herself in a hospital room. She glanced around the room, feeling dazed and puzzled as to what happened that led up to her being in the hospital. In a mirror in front of her, Grace noticed she was hooked up to an IV, a breathing mask, and a few other tubes poked into her arms and upper stomach. Her hair was a wild mess, as multiple strands were frizzy. She placed her hand on her forehead, trying to find her thinking process again.

She felt as if she had been drugged, but when she thought for a moment, Grace began to believe that she, in fact, was given some sort of drugs by doctors and nurses when unconscious. 

Her mother, Janice, was standing right next to her, and she started to cry with happiness, relieved that her daughter was finally awake after a while.

Grace looked up at her in confusion. "How did I end up here?"

"I heard the news from a fellow cop that you were stabbed, and I rushed here as fast as I could," Janice said and continued hugging her daughter. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Grace started to quickly make out how she ended up in the hospital. "Wait, I'm alive? I thought I'd die when I was stabbed."

"Be thankful that you are not. The doctor said you were bleeding out so much that it took three surgeons to work on just the bleeding portion. They stitched up those five holes that were in your body; I didn't know if you knew that. Now, you may be alright for now, but you'll still need to stay for a couple days."

"Oh. Um, random question, but what time is it?" 

Janice stared up at the clock in front of the hospital bed. "It's only four in the morning."

Grace proceeded on asking more questions. "Wait, this room is different. Am I in another hospital? I think I went to a different one when I was injured near my foot. I know that place went on lockdown after what happened there."

"Yes, you are somewhere else, sweetie. I'd ask more about that one hospital, since you were there, but I'm just going to let you relax for a bit."

She eventually widened her eyes as she began to think about Matthew, and she sat up in the bed in fear. "What about my boyfriend's little brother? Is he alright? I was watching him for the night, but those murderers are out right now! He's at home with them!"

"Grace, relax, please." Janice placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Everything is fine. I'm pretty sure he's safe somewhere."

"You're pretty sure?" Grace yelled over the faster beeping of her heart monitor. "Are you pretty sure or absolutely sure? He could die!"

Janice sighed. "Grace..."

"Where's the phone? I need to call Michael!" Grace began to quickly search for a nearby phone to use.

"Grace, what are you trying to do?"

"None of your business! Get your hand off me!" Grace pulled down Janice's hand off her shoulder. 

"Hey, relax. What are you--" Her mother put her hand back on her shoulder.

Grace's voice grew even louder, and the sound of her heart monitor sped up as well. "I said to get your fucking hand off me!" 

"Grace, can you just talk to me? What is wrong?" Janice grabbed both of her arms, completely stopping her.

Grace tried to yank her arms out, but she soon gave up and started to burst into tears. Janice slowly placed her hands on her daughter's face, staring into her eyes with concern.

"Please, Grace, I'm trying to help you. What is going on?" Janice began to cry herself. "Who are these 'murderers?' What is happening with Matthew? If you don't want to tell me, fine, but at least tell me at some point. I'm worried about you, and clearly something is greatly upsetting you."

Grace bent her head down--not saying anything--and continued to cry even more, but she eventually fell silent. Her heart monitor sped up even more, creating what sounded like up to five beats a second. Grace's head and upper body soon slowly moved backwards, and Janice kept holding onto her face, trying to figure out why Grace was starting to lay back down in such a way.

"Grace, are you trying to lay back down? If so, I can let you be."

No response. 

"Grace?"

She started to cry even more as she noticed Grace's eyes facing all the way up towards the ceiling. Her mouth was also hanging open, and she started to make a few sounds that were strange and unfamiliar to Janice. Grace's arms began to violently shake, and she fully laid back in the bed, her whole body shaking as well.

"Grace!" Janice yelled and started to call out for a nurse or doctor.

One nurse from the outside of the room heard her and rushed into the room Janice was in.

"What's going on with her?" she asked. 

The nurse flipped Grace on her side and began to mess with some tools, trying to stop whatever was wrong with her. "Ma'am, I don't want to really alarm you, but I think she's having a seizure."

Janice's heart dropped as soon as those words left the nurse's mouth. "But how? My family never had a history of those."

"There can be other things that can trigger seizures," the nurse explained and carefully watched as Grace's body stopped twitching. "It doesn't always have to be passed from one family to another, or it also doesn't have to be epilepsy that can cause them."

"What else exactly can cause them then?"

"Stress, low blood sugar, and sleep deprivation are some major factors."

"Sleep deprivation? Both my husband and I remember seeing Grace come home sometimes from work, stressed and looking like she hasn't slept for days. I'm not sure what's been keeping her up, but I know there is clearly something that is bothering her. Even the boss of Fredbear's Family Diner has reported to me that she's been acting exhausted and having a lot of panic attacks at work." Janice tried her best to calm down after experiencing her daughter having a seizure. "Is that what probably caused this?"

"More than likely, if she really hasn't been sleeping, that is the case." The nurse looked down at Grace, who was now in her final moments of her seizure--with her breathing heavily and laying there while still out of it. "When has she last slept?"

"I don't know about that." Janice paused for a moment. "Hate to invade her privacy, but I know she has a journal that she writes in about her daily life. I'll ask her for it and see if there is anything in there that may tell me what's been going on. I am truly scared for her wellbeing, because she's been going downhill lately."

"Clearly ask her first for it, and if she's okay with giving it to you, we may also consider looking at it ourselves."

"Why would you need it?"

"It'd be easier to figure out if she's been withdrawing from sleep, or if she had any other problems leading up to her stay here. It would be the answer to everything for her."


	23. Chapter 23

Matthew stood outside his house in fear, keeping an eye out for any police car that may come towards his house. He listened as Officer Nelson had revealed his address on the radio, but with hours passing by, he began to think that the cop's radio was actually off, and no one actually heard him.

Feeling himself cry, he ran back in the house with the flashlight in his shaky hands. He shined the light all across his house, watching out for any animatronic that would jump out at him. It was almost five in the morning, but ever since he witnessed Nelson getting murdered, the six hours felt like a lifetime to him.

Matthew ran back to his bedroom and sat on his bed, the flashlight pointing towards the closet. He saw Nightmare Foxy staring back at him, his glowing red eyes focusing on Matthew's. The child remained frozen in horror, but he tried his best to stay brave and courageous. The fox animatronic hidden in his closet growled at Matthew, tilting his head and sticking his long, snake-like tongue out.

"You're...you're not going to kill me!" Matthew yelled at him. "I'm a strong boy! You're not going to stab me and murder me!"

Nightmare Foxy disappeared shortly after Matthew shut off the light for a few seconds, only to see his Foxy plushie sitting there. He sighed and looked back over to the side of his bed, and Nelson's dead body was still lying there on the ground. Matthew shook his head and grabbed the phone on his nightstand, dialing a 911 operator.

After being introduced to a female operator, Matthew said in a tired voice, "I need some help with something."

"What do you need help with, sweetie?" she asked with a sweet and calming tone.

"I called 911 earlier to report my brother's girlfriend getting stabbed. The same killer that stabbed her also got a police officer. His body is here in my room, and I'm trying to hide myself from these murderers in my house. What can I do with a dead body in my house?"

"We'll get some other cops out there to pick up the body. Now, are you home alone?"

"Yes, and I don't know where my parents are. My brother also is supposed to watch me, but he's been going out a lot with his friends." Matthew continued to cry. "I don't know want to do! First, his girlfriend is stabbed, and then a cop visiting my house is also stabbed! I'm just scared."

"Don't worry," the operator told him. "We're going to send more officers over there. I'm alerting them right now. Where are you in your house? Where is the body."

"I'm in my room, and the body is right next to my bed."

"Alright, I'll tell them that." There was a hint of silence for a moment, but she started to speak again. "They should be there within several minutes, sweetie."

"Thank you," Matthew whispered. "I need to go, because I'm watching out for these...mysterious killers."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay on the phone with me?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Are you positive?"

"Yes. I said I'm okay, but thanks anyways." He hung up the phone and glanced around his room, turning the flashlight back on. "Well, I got an hour to fend off these animatronics."

Matthew did his usual routine; he checked every door and underneath his bed. No animatronics had shown up in his sight for a few minutes, but at one point, he was able to catch Nightmare Chica walking in the right hallway towards him. As soon as he saw her, he quickly closed his door and listened to her breathing, waiting for her to leave.

Eventually, Nightmare Chica walked away from the door, and Matthew opened it back up, shining the flashlight down the hall. He watched as she--holding her cupcake in her one hand--hid around the corner to avoid the light shining on her.

Matthew ran to his closet and illuminated the flashlight in his closet. Nightmare Foxy's head popped up in front of him, making him scream and jump back. Trying to get back on his feet, he quickly turned off the light and switched it back on, only to see his Foxy plush in the closet once again.

"Don't hide yourself!" he told it. "I know you're in there somewhere, Nightmare Foxy! Either you are hiding, or for some reason, you're hiding in my plush toy!"

Matthew soon ran over to the left door and listened for Nightmare Bonnie, but there was nothing but quietness behind his door. He turned on the flashlight and ended up seeing Nightmare Bonnie peeking from around the corner, but he hid himself, too, just like Nightmare Chica. 

"Yeah, you stay back!" Matthew hollered, feeling some of his fear disappear.

He ran back towards his bed and shined the light on it, seeing the small Freddy minions sitting and "laughing" at him. Once the light hit them, they immediately vanished off his bed.

Matthew climbed onto his bed--after making the three cubs disappear--and waited as he sat on it, listening for the sound of cop cars. Whether the sirens would be on or off, he still wanted to carefully hear for any sign of a car. He currently heard the sounds of the wind outside and two of the animatronics' metallic feet hitting the floors outside his bedroom, but he tried to ignore these sounds and focused on other outside noises.

Suddenly, after just a few minutes, the house fell completely silent. There was no wind outside, and there were definitely no sounds of the Nightmares in his house. Matthew did eventually hear a couple cars pull up outside his home, followed by gunshots, and the curious kid he was, he rushed towards the front door, but he never opened it right away.

Matthew almost screamed as he could already see what happened through the screen door. The sight made him feel even more scared and fearful.

The two cars that were parked in front of the house were heavily damaged; one car was flipped upside down, but the other had a huge hole in the front window on the driver's side. There was a dead cop found with his head lying against the steering wheel in the car with the broken window. Another cop's body was lying on the ground next to the car that was flipped over.

Terrified, Matthew turned away from the door and kept whispering to himself, "This can't be happening! This can't be happening! This can't be happening!"

He quickly turned back to look outside, but now, the bodies of the cops were gone. Matthew couldn't see anyone else outside near where the dead police officers were found, but the only things he saw were the two cars. Confused and still in fear, he ran back to his bedroom, knowing that if kept calling 911, the animatronics would continue to go after any cops that would come to the Afton house. At this point, Matthew was not sure what to exactly do.

The only thing he knew he could do was to let himself proceed to fend off the Nightmares for the rest of the night.

* * *

As the time hit noon, Michael drove himself out to where Grace and her friends would normally hang out. He was playing some more rock songs at full volume with the windows down as he pulled up to their hangout spot, surprised to see Lauren and Amber actually there. As he laid eyes eyes on them through the passenger side window of the car, both of the girls immediately turned their heads away from him, facing both of themselves towards a nearby building.

"Why you two beautiful ladies looking so mad?" Michael laughed as he exited the car. "Something wrong with me? Do I have something on my face?"

"That depends," Amber replied and turned back to look at him. "The only thing I see on your face is...just the overall face of a jerk!"

Lauren glanced at her. "Ignore him."

"_Sucer ma bite_/**(Eng.: Pussy)**!" Amber laid her eyes back on Lauren and giggled at her.

"I know you just said an insult in your original language. Don't think I have no idea how to speak French; I took a class with Grace in high school."

"Um, excuse me, ladies?" Michael leaned in through the window of the driver's side and turned off his car. "You talking at all to me?"

Lauren tapped Amber's shoulder, pointed at Michael, and then did the same thing again but in the opposite direction. The two girls went back to ignoring him, and he raised both of his arms up mid-air in confusion. 

"Why you two ignoring me? If I have done something wrong, I am sorry, but I'm not sure what I did."

They continued to stare at the building near them, still not speaking to Michael. Confused, he made his way closer to them, walking in front of where the two girls were facing. Lauren stared up at him, and she appeared to be looking at him with a mix of anger and hesitation.

Amber proceeded to say something. "May we help you?"

"Yes," Michael replied. "Do you two know where Grace is? I've been trying to reach out to her, but she has not been answering my calls."

"Oh, about time you care for her?" Lauren rolled her eyes at him. "Where have you been when she needed you?"

"I've been hanging out with my friends, because I hardly seem them, and it seems like I'm always with Grace. Not too long ago, though, she has told me that she's been going through a bit without me there with her. Is there something truly going on?"

Amber jumped up from the bench. "Maybe if you weren't so oblivious, you'd know the answer to that already!"

Lauren stood up and placed her hand in front of Amber, trying to calm her down. "Look, Michael, if you want to be a good boyfriend, give Grace a second chance. Listen to her, and please don't be a douchebag if she's trying to tell you something important."

"I promised myself I'd start over and be a better person." He sighed. "Now, just wondering--has she told you about what has been happening?"

"I already know about it, and I don't think she's crazy." She crossed her arms. "Because of who has been murdering people around town, do you even know where she is now?"

Michael felt his heart race. "Wait, what do you mean by that? Is she dead? Has she been murdered?"

"She was almost murdered," Amber replied. "Did you know that, though? Not at all! Lauren and I know that you thought Grace was insane after she told you who these strange murderers were. Your friend, Ethan, told us what you were thinking, and clearly, you never wanted to act like you cared until now."

"I assume she's in the hospital, because where else would she be? Which one is she at?"

"You have to find that out yourself. Don't be asking us."

"I also want to mention something," Lauren added. "You were probably so oblivious that you never noticed how exhausted she looked. She has been withdrawing from sleep for almost 3 days; that's 72 hours total! Obviously, something is up if she's sacrificing her sleep, and her health, to defend your little brother."

"I got off the phone with her a few minutes just before you arrived. Poor girl suffered a severe seizure earlier this morning from her lack of sleep." Amber bent her head down in fear, staring at the ground. "All of this is happening, and you literally have no clue about these issues, just because you're not listening to her. If you did listen to her and not be a jerk, you'd already be at the hospital with her. Better yet, you could've prevented what got her there in the first place."

"She has a point."

Michael placed his hands in his pockets, terrified of everything he was hearing about Grace. "What am I...doing? I'm such a...horrible...boyfriend."

Before Lauren or Amber could answer, Michael took his hands out and ran back to his car, rushing into it and soon speeding away from the two young girls.

* * *

Grace looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Despite taking a long nap after her unexpected seizure, she still had some bags underneath her eyes, and her hair still remained a wild mess. Annoyed by her appearance, she set down her personal toothbrush on the counter by the sink, after she had decided to clean her teeth for a bit, and quickly brushed her hands through her hair to fix it.

She kept on feeling the effects of the drugs she was given, while she was temporarily asleep, and Grace closed her eyes from tiredness. She opened them back up a few seconds later and shook her head, trying to wake herself up.

Grace continued to stare in the mirror and lifted up her hospital gown, seeing some of the tubes taped in her upper abdomen. She cringed at the sight and immediately covered her stomach back up.

"Dammit, Nightmare Freddy!" she whispered. "Look what you've done to me!"

Grace, with her lack of sleep, did feel as if she was so exhausted that she could sleep for a lifetime, but she did have great memory for three days of sleep withdrawal. However, her attention span was so short that if a fellow nurse or doctor knocked on the bathroom door, she would not believe that she heard anything, even if the noise happened to be very loud.

Grace walked out of the bathroom, into the empty room, and tiredly moved herself back towards the hospital bed, eventually feeling something hard as soon as her hand touched the top of the bed. She picked up the item and sat down, noticing that the object she was holding was her journal.

"How did this get here? I left it hidden at home, unless my mother brought it." Grace angrily set the journal on the table next to the bed. "These are my personal entries, not hers! I hope she didn't go through it!"

She laid back on the bed, covering herself back up with the white bed sheets. As she fixed her position to get herself comfortable, Grace spotted a note taped on top of her journal. She sighed, frustrated with not having a huge attention span. She tore the note off and, in an exhausted voice, read it to herself.

"Grace, this is your...mother." Grace squinted her eyes, making sure she was reading the note right, and she slowly widened them back up. "Hate to say this, but I read your journal. Why haven't you said anything to me if all of this is going on? Are these animatronics you encountered actually real? Just in case they are real, your father and I are going to help you with avoiding these strange robots. I'm going to get the police on this, too, because they need to do something."

She tore up the note and threw it in the trash next to her. "No! Leave all of this to me! I don't want you dead!"

Grace soon broke down in tears after ripping up the note, and she started to bury her face in her hands. She didn't expect herself to suddenly start crying, but she remembered how no sleep can affect someone's emotional state in a way. She quickly dried her tears, uncovering her face, and leaned her head against the pillow.

"Mother, I don't care what you want to do," she told herself and felt even more tears form in her eyes. "I'm the one who the Nightmares are after, aside of Matthew. Let me protect him while you stay hidden and safe. I just...don't want you...dead."


	24. Chapter 24

"**I don't know what day it is, but I assume it's a weekday  
It's one in the afternoon, looks like**

_I'm a huge mess right now._

_Emotionally and physically, I'm a mess._

_Here I am in the hospital, yet again injured by one of the Nightmares, but unlike my ankle injury, I could've died from this new one. Seems like that Freddy counterpart is obsessed with me. Now, now, I don't mean it like...you know...but he just has this addiction with the thought of murdering me. First time, he failed to kill me, and the second time, he failed once again._

_How do I know Nightmare Freddy has some vicious and disturbing obsession with me? The fact that he has been targeting and going after me first is something I managed to find out right away. What was obvious as well was the fact he wanted me to himself, like he never wanted his friends to get in on the fun of killing me. I've seen him use his friends to go after Matthew, while he tried to murder me by himself._

_With me being alive, which I don't know if he knows, Nightmare Freddy may still want me dead, just so he and his friends could finally target Matthew without me around to take him away from his house to safety. This creepy ass nightmarish bear probably sees me as an easy target to go after, just like Matthew, as it's stereotypical that us women are more physically weak; the same thing goes for children as well. _

_I know that Nightmare Freddy probably thinks this. The way he talked to me told me that he thought it was funny I couldn't fight back. That won't be no more, though, as I know that both he and his friends will be stopped. I'll try to get myself, Matthew, hopefully my boyfriend as well, my two best friends, the cops, and some other people I know to help go after these monsters. _

_Shit, I remembered that the police wanted to get the government into this. They may want to send federal officers, with special armor or something else to protect them, to help track down and deactivate these animatronics. Still, I want to help go after them._

_Just want to say, switching the subject here, that my memory has been pretty good for my lack of sleep, but right now, it's not so great. What I'm basically saying is that I can't really remember what the pain felt like when he stabbed me in my upper stomach, but I can only guess it was painful as hell. Like I said beforehand about him speaking to me, I do recall him talking; that is something I did not forget._

_Anyways, I was brought here once again because, as I said before, Nightmare Freddy thought it'd be fun to inflict pain on me. After I was transported to the hospital, poor Matthew was left all alone, only to be vulnerable to those...monsters. I hope he isn't dead. I hope the animatronics did not get him. If I found out they did, more than likely I would just feel like killing myself. If I hear he is gone forever, I would really just want to escape this whole nightmare and die peacefully than with great amounts of pain from those animatronics._

_Matthew is like a son to me. I haven't known the boy for a long time, but he is much different than most children I've seen. While I see most kids roll around on the ground in public, throwing a temper tantrum, Matthew would be that kid who'd just stare at those other children, but he wouldn't learn and copy that kind of behavior. He is a lot calmer and was raised to behave maturely by his parents, which I'm really happy about. _

_I'm also starting to think that he was born with great intelligence, as he basically 'grew himself up' in some cases, learning what's right and what's wrong for himself. Now, I'm not saying he's the smartest kid alive, but I do think he is very smart and mature for his age, especially compared to all of the other children I've seen._

_If he was raised well, why wasn't his brother? Oh, I believe that Michael learned this obnoxious behavior of his from his friends. Not sure if he was a better behaving kid beforehand, but if he ever was, he completely went downhill. It's kind of funny how Matthew is the calm, mature kid, but Michael is just that guy with reckless, bullying behavior._

_Hate to say it, but Matthew is more mature and intelligent at this point._

_Speaking of my boyfriend, I'm considering breaking up with Michael. Matthew keeps saying that his older brother has been giving him more trouble, as he's going from just calling him names at first, to physically hurting him. I was hesitant on the idea of ending this relationship, because I was not too sure who to believe, but as I got to know Matthew better and spend more time with him, I can greatly see the difference between the two brothers. Matthew is way more believable right now, whereas Michael is the complete liar._

_But back on the topic of my boyfriend's brother--it's just...if Matthew was dead, I would feel as if I lost a son. Life without him would be heartbreaking, and more than likely, I would fall into a deep state of depression. _

_Like his parents, who are mysteriously gone, I want him to be living a happy childhood life, despite the terrifying moments we're currently encountering. I know every childhood has its dark moments, but I want to raise Matthew myself, to have a happier life, as if he was my true son. He's been through so much; with his brother bullying him and the Nightmares going after him, his life is in a state of hell right now. Honestly, he has a lot more going on than I do._

_Michael probably doesn't know that I know he's lying when he's talking about Matthew. He also probably doesn't know that I'm practically letting my health plummet just to defend his little brother. I was an athletic, healthy, energetic girl before, but look at me now; I'm in a hospital bed--with no sleep for roughly 72 hours, an epileptic-like seizure because of that, multiple punctures in my skin which caused me to lose some blood, and more paranoia and emotions than before. _

_I don't feel energetic and motivated as I used to, and this isn't something that's just temporary; it feels like this is my new mental state. Until the Nightmares showed up, I felt courageous and strong, but I feel more weak. I still want to fight off these animatronics and make them forever be gone, but as of now...I don't know. _

_Let me just say that if I recover from my lack of sleep, I don't think I'll be that braver, stronger girl I was not too long ago. I feel like I'll be a lot more irritable, paranoid, and overall an emotional mess. Yes, I know a lack of sleep messes with your emotional state, but even when I get my sleeping schedule back to normal, emotions may still play a role in my decreased mental state. The Nightmares seem to be the culprit of my emotional state being all over the place._

_How can such animatronics really mess with your mental state, you may ask? Well, for one thing, I was really fearful of them once I first encountered Nightmare Foxy. Imagine if you never knew these animatronics existed, but one night, you suddenly see one of them, and they look as if they belonged in your dreams; I bet you'd be scared, too. I know from that one night that Foxy animatronic was roaming my neighborhood, I haven't been as brave as I was before, and I always feel defenseless when I'm around those Nightmares. When I start to believe how weak I am, that's when I feel more and more frail. I have tried to fight back the animatronics, but they are just too strong._

_Paranoia is another thing. This has rapidly gone up for me every time I was separated from Matthew. I always felt as if he would be dead any second between 12 and six AM, and when I believe he may be dead, I've been--lately--freaking out and trying to reach out to him. It's like as if I'm not relaxed and calm if I don't know whether he's okay or not. _

_Withdrawing from sleep or not, I know that when I recover, I would not be fine; I know for myself that I'll be more of a mess than the time before the Nightmares showed up. I may not be exhausted like I haven't slept for days, but I know I'll be paranoid and emotional. _

_I mean, how are most people going to react to these...almost seven-foot-tall animatronics, with claws and sharp teeth, going around and murdering people in the most brutal am graphic way possible? Pretty sure all of them are going to be terrified for their life. It's practically impossible, I think, to face these Nightmares and not feel any hint of fear and paranoia, especially if you feel those two things towards your loved ones if they're vulnerable to these animatronics. Does it make sense that with me being close to Matthew, and with him being like a son to me, that I'd fear for his life? I'm sure it does._

_As mentioned, I've been separated from Matthew a lot, all because of Nightmare Freddy. I get he's trying to kill me, but why has he been putting little effort into my murder? I hear about him killing people by using his claws in multiple places of their bodies, even biting them with his teeth, but the only things he has done was stabbing only one or two layers by my foot and at least five layers of my upper stomach. I doubt both of those are truly enough to kill me, because if I was dead, I wouldn't be writing this._

_I guess one reason is that he likes to watch me suffer after stabbing me. Still, I heard stories of people getting killed in less a minute by him or his friends, whereas I was bleeding out for almost 10 to 15 minutes. It's kind of confusing to me._

_I'm not too sure on this, but of all the victims in this town, I noticed that it seems like most female victims survive their attacks, if they are attacked, although the guys don't. I'm guessing that the Nightmares know that men are, stereotypically, tougher and want them out of the way first. It kind of makes sense why they'd go after men first, as guys would be more likely to try to fight back. The reason I say that is because the animatronics most likely see them as a threat to their killing spree. Women and kids, though, seemed to be targeted less because--again, stereotypically--they are a lot weaker._

_Anyways, I think women and kids may be the Nightmares' last types of victims to go after, unless there is a kind of girl, like me, who is an obstacle to a child or man the animatronics are after. Now, I don't really know why we and children would technically be the 'last victims,' if all of this is correct. One guess I have is that because we're both more prone to be emotional, inflicting pain on us is more fun to them; that probably explains, too, why any female or kid victims may have been less brutally attacked than men._

_Alright, I'm going to stop writing here. I'm tired, so I'm going to try to nap."_

* * *

About an hour has passed, and Grace found herself waking back up in the hospital bed with her journal next to her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, but as tired as she was, she felt a little more energetic than before she fell asleep. Grace set her journal on the table next to her and suddenly heard the door close. She looked up to see who was entering the room.

"Michael?" Grace asked. "Um, what are you doing here?" 

Michael ran over to her and quickly grabbed her hands. "Are you okay, babe? I heard from your friends about what all happened to you!"

She immediately drew her hands back. "Of course now you care about me! Where were you the other two days Matthew and I have been through hell? You have no idea what we've encountered, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

"I do believe you--"

"Will you stop lying to me?" Grace yelled. "Don't bullshit me, Michael! I know that Ethan heard you say that I was basically a 'crazy bitch!' He told my friends, and they told me, so I know what you truly think of me!"

"Ethan? Grace, I was joking!"

"Doesn't sound like a joke to me." She lowered her voice. "I know when you're sarcastic and making jokes, but I do think you were telling Ethan the truth."

Michael sighed. "I'm being honest with you. I didn't mean for that to sound like an insult at all."

"Didn't mean for that to be an insult? Says the guy who bullies his own little brother!" Grace stared at him angrily. "Yes, I know you bully your brother, and don't give me that 'Oh, he's just being a stubborn kid' stuff, because I know you're humiliating him! I met him, and he's a very nice child; I know that for myself. Clearly, the mean one here out of you two is, well, you!"

He hesitated, looking back at her in shock. "Grace--"

"Don't even look at me, you fucking bully! How dare you tease your own sibling like that! If I had a sister or brother, I'd never do that!" She clenched her hands in fists. "We're through, Michael! You hear me? We're no longer together!"

"Wait! Grace, I didn't mean--"

"Get out!" she yelled and pointed towards the door. 

"Can we work this out, please? I can explain--"

Grace's voice was raised even louder. "Get out of the damn room, you bastard, or I'll get security! You got that?"


	25. Chapter 25

Matthew ran around Fredbear's, crying and wondering where his older brother was. He felt completely lonely and helpless, as no one was in sight to help him find a way home.

Michael had taken Matthew there once again and made another promise not to abandon him, but the older brother unfortunately left Matthew a second time. With Grace not there either, he continued to make his way around the diner, looking for someone to help him get a way back to his house.

He sat at an empty table in front of where the two animatronics were standing. Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were both moving in their normal way, creaking and jolting around on stage. Fredbear began to sing a song that was meant to sound happy and uplifting, but with the Nightmare animatronics in mind, all Matthew heard was plain creepiness and eeriness from the song. He felt chills run up and down his body and soon wiped some of his tears away.

Matthew proceeded to watch the two animatronics perform for a moment, until he snapped out of it, and jumped down from the chair. He slowly walked out of the small, empty party room and into the main room where all the action was happening. Among the loathe crowds of people, Matthew stood in the middle of the room, quickly glancing around. 

The Purple Guy was also standing in the middle of the main room, examining every family having fun at the diner. He had his hands in his pockets and seemed to be talking to the boss, but Matthew couldn't tell what they were saying over the deafening noises of kids talking loudly and the sounds of arcade games going. Still feeling some tears run down his face, he ran up to the two men.

The boss noticed Matthew right away and pointed at him, while still talking to the Purple Guy. He, too, looked back to see Matthew coming towards them. The boss bent down as the child made his way closer to the men.

"Can you help me?" Matthew asked. "My brother took me here, but he abandoned me again. I assume Grace isn't here. She probably can't take me home right now."

The Purple Guy sighed. "Sorry, little buddy, but yes, Grace didn't make it into work today. She called in, mentioning that something happened to her."

"I know what happened. Will she be okay? Will she be out of the hospital soon?"

"Listen here," the boss told him in a calming voice. "Grace is in somewhat critical condition right now. I don't want to scare you, but something else happened to her, other than her being attacked by...whatever she told Purple Guy here."

"Something about these...weird...animatronics," the Purple Guy replied and blinked a few times. "That's what it was."

"Yes, but anyways, what occurred was that she had a seizure," the boss continued. "Last I heard, she only one of them, and she is alright. As of now, I believe she's resting or just relaxing in bed, but she's still unable to work for at least a couple of days."

"A seizure?" Matthew asked in fear. "How did she have one? I remembered a friend at school had them, but that was from some condition."

"Well, seizures can be caused by other things, Matthew. Grace told PG that it was all because of a lack of sleep." He stood up and crossed his arms, looking over at the Purple Guy. "I knew she wasn't functioning properly before she landed in the hospital. After she cleaned some of the rooms and then volunteered to take care of customers, she kept spilling things and knocking things over; she went into a mental breakdown and panicked after every one of those mistakes she made. She needs to rest well before she could come back to work. You know what? I'll go call her now to tell her that."

As the boss walked away, PG was left with Matthew. The two kept standing still for a moment, both not saying anything, until PG spoke up to break the silence.

"Alright, Matthew. I'll figure something out with you. Now, wait here; I'll also be right back."

After PG left, Matthew grew impatient after a couple of minutes. He stared over at the entrance door and walked towards it, pushing against the door to open it. Matthew exited the diner, and--while still crying--he kept peeking multiple times around the parking lot. 

After walking around for a bit, he eventually laid his eyes on a little girl standing near him. She had short orange hair in pigtails, and she wore a red skirt and orange shirt. The girl was soon turning her head and noticing Matthew looking at her. She shyly smiled at him and moved herself towards him. 

"Hey!" the girl told him. "You'd better watch out! I hear they come to life at night, and if you die, they hide your body and never tell anyone."

"You mean those animatronics?" Matthew shook his head. "I already know about them."

"The rumor is going around town; it all started with some girl named Grace. She talked about the animatronics first before anyone else could. Is the rumor all true?" 

Matthew began to cry even more, not being able to reply to her. He remained silent and started to walk away from the little girl, and she watched him closely, confused and concerned for him.

"Uh, are you okay?" she called, though he never answered her.

Matthew kept on crying as he left the area, and as he continued to walk away from Fredbear's, he encountered a few other kids. These kids he came across would, just like Michael, tease and make fun of him being for "being a baby." These insults made Matthew develop more tears in his eyes, and he felt heartbroken by all the negative comments. It seemed as if the only child he came across that cared for him was that one little girl, as she talked to him like they were friends; no negative remarks left her mouth.

He came across a nearby intersection and watched some cars pass by. Not too long after, Matthew heard the sound of two police SUVs with their sirens rumbling at the other cars stopping for them. 

"Get out of the way!" a cop yelled in the radio. "We're trying to figure out an urgent situation here, and we can't go if you all don't move!"

Only one car, which was pulled up to the stoplight, was kind enough to turn right on another road to let the police vehicles through. The other cars, however, still sat in the middle of the lane.

"Dammit! Move it, people!" the cop shouted. 

The cars proceeded to squeeze through the traffic, and both continued to drive. Matthew saw them cross the intersection, going straight, and kept his eyes on them as the SUVs disappeared in a neighborhood. The sounds of the sirens started to fade as the vehicles drove farther away from the intersection.

Matthew kept on staring at the road the vehicles drove on, but he soon laid his eyes on the other cars. The one car that moved for the police turned completely around to get on the opposite lane of the same road. It stopped at the light and began to move forward once the driver saw the green light.

"The cops really are trying to investigate this problem, huh?" a strange voice said, startling Matthew. "Ever since the rumor spread, some citizens are freaking out."

Matthew turned and looked up to see a younger man staring down at him. The man seemed to be a young adult, as he had such a youthful appearance to him. 

"Did I scare you there, little guy?" he chuckled. "I didn't mean to."

Matthew took a deep breath. "A little bit, but I'm...okay."

The man placed his hand on the child's shoulder. "Hey, the name is Andrew. What's yours?"

"Matthew." 

"Matthew. Nice name." Andrew had a cup of coffee in his other hand, and he took a sip of it, also taking his one hand off Matthew's shoulder. "I'm a fellow 911 operator, and I've been getting tons of calls about people being murdered. I'm not sure if these animatronics do exist, but it's still terrifying to think that there are some sort of murderers out there during the night. There is nothing to fear, though, because us humans are stronger than those robotic things."

"I've tried telling myself I'm strong, but my brother calls me 'weak' and a 'baby.' I really don't think I'm as a tough as I thought."

"Your brother says that? Oh, what a bastard!" Andrew patted Matthew's back. "Don't listen to him if he's giving you trouble like that. Haven't you told your parents?"

"I wish I could tell them, but my brother, Michael, is the only one watching me. I don't even know where my parents are, and I haven't heard from them at all." Matthew sighed. "I just don't know why Michael hates me so much. I've done nothing wrong."

"You don't know where your parents are?" Andrew asked. 

Matthew nodded his head in silence.

"Now, how is this Michael guy teasing you? Is it just the name calling, or is he also hurting you...physically?"

"Yes, he hurts me, too. He pushes me around. He hits me."

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"I don't think so. My brother's girlfriend may know, but I don't know for sure."

"Who is his girlfriend, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Her name is Grace."

Andrew stared at Matthew with interest. "That name sounds familiar to me. I remember at least a couple days ago, some girl named Grace called 911 to report a dead body, and she ended up talking to me. That must be her."

"She did?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, she did, Matthew. She called to talk about the body of a little girl she saw, but the girl has been identified already."

"Her name was Sarah Carter. I already heard about her."

"That's the right name. Such a shame that had to happen to her." Andrew tossed his now empty cup in a nearby trash can. "Just wondering if you knew where Grace is. I'm in on hunting down these animatronics, and I'd think by now, she's probably wanting them gone as well. I mean, once I first heard about these disappearances, I was immediately interested in finding out who was murdering these people."

"Yes, but why do you need to know where Grace is?"

"I just want to talk to her. I want to see if she ever came across these supposedly real animatronics. We three can team-up, if we want to, and track down these monsters."

Matthew nervously smiled. "She has, but I have seen them myself, too. They're a lot scarier when you come face-to-face to them."

"You have, huh?"

"I promise, I have. I really guarantee I've seen them with my own eyes."

Andrew bent down and gave Matthew a serious look. "Hey, law enforcement runs in my family. My father is a police officer, and he can help us look for these animatronics, so that'll make us a team of four, not counting almost all of the police."

"He's a cop?"

"He is. I'll call him up right now if he wants to get on this." Andrew stood up and pulled out his phone, beginning to dial a number. "Give me a second."

"Okay." 

Matthew watched as Andrew placed the phone up to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up. After what felt like a whole minute, he took the phone off his ear and stared down at it, confused. 

"Hm, no one answered," he said and put the phone back in his pocket. "I would've thought he'd be at home; he always is. He is only in uniform when it's nighttime, so he doesn't work the daytime shifts."

Matthew was unsure what to say.

"I'll have to go to the police station tonight and see if everything is alright."

"Are you sure he always answers you when he isn't working?"

"I couldn't be more sure, Matthew. He has lots of access to the phone when he's home, but it's kind of weird he didn't answer." Andrew shook his head with disappointment. "Would've been nice to talk to him, but I'll just go to the station and ask if Officer Nelson is there."

As soon as Matthew heard that name, he frowned right away and felt his heart race. He remembered witnessing a cop with that same last name getting murdered by one of the animatronics.

"Um, Officer Nelson?" Matthew asked nervously.

"Yes, that's his name, Matthew. Why? What's wrong?"

Matthew hesitated for a moment. "I...saw a police officer with that...name get...killed by...one...of the animatronics."

Andrew stopped smiling as well. "What are you talking about? Are you sure it wasn't another--oh, there's only one cop named Nelson in the whole fleet. You saying my father is dead?"

"I am n-not joking; I-I saw him g-get killed b-by the different F-Freddy counterpart in a really g-graphic way. I'm s-sorry about him. I-I did try to get more cops over t-to my house to g-get his body."

"You're serious?"

"I'm really sure he was k-killed. Not lying."

"Alright! We're getting these monsters! No one is going to murder my father like that!" Andrew, who was trying not to cry, angrily walked from Matthew. "Come on, Matthew! We're finding Grace! I've had enough of this--pardon my language--murder bullshit!"

* * *

"Wait, what did she do?" Sofia asked, speaking with her actual voice. "Did she really break up with you?"

Michael silently wrote on paper as a reply, "Yes, she decided to end our relationship. I don't know what is wrong with her, but she hasn't slept for three days. Thanks to her lack of sleep, she had a full meltdown when I visited her in the hospital."

"Specify." Sofia started to mess with her hearing aids, waiting for a response as he hesitated. 

"I don't know. She was supposedly attacked by some...animatronic, but I don't believe in them. Anyways, she said that I wasn't there for her when she has been going through 'hell.' I have tried to care for her as much as I could, but...she's just constantly needing attention."

"You sure about that?"

"Hey, I made a promise to not lie to her, and I'm also promising myself not to lie to you."

Sofia stared at him closely, breaking the silence as she sipped a cup of water with a straw. With the cup almost empty, it made a loud noise as she sucked up some of the leftover water.

"What are you staring at me for?" Michael asked. 

She took the straw out of her mouth. "Oh, I'm just looking out for drama"--yet again taking another loud sip--"because I'm a very cautious girl. I'm about heading into college soon, and that's a huge drama hotspot. If I tell that you are just lying, I'll stop talking with you."

Michael felt slightly annoyed by some of her poor grammar, as she can't really hear herself talk, but he allowed himself to remain patient. "I believe for myself that I am not lying to you. I'd never lie to a girl like you."

"What about men?" Sofia took another sip of water, once again staring at him as if she knew he was already lying. "You'd lie to them?"

"Of course not."

She nodded her head and tossed her cup in a trash can, the cup perfectly landing in it from just a few feet away. "Not that it matters, but I was a basketball player in high school. I say that in case you wanted to ask why I was so good throwing that from such a distance. As you know, I'm questioned that a lot. Alright, alright, I'll shut up."

"Oh no, that's cool actually." Michael grinned. "I'm not trying to bother you here, but how did you play with your...problem?"

"It required a special technique, but I'd rather not say."

"No problem."

Sofia suddenly remembered the day she met Michael, and she angrily glanced at him. "I'm just wondering about something."

"That is?"

"You told me that Grace chick broke up with you an hour ago. Why did you agree to go out with me if you still had a girlfriend?"

"Was it meant to be a date?" He stopped smiling at her.

"It was just meant to be a friendly date, but you know that it seems like many 'friendly dates' turn into relationships. Why didn't you say anything, you man whore? We could've been one of those 'couples' who randomly hooked up and went to one of each other's houses to have...some fun."

Michael frowned even more. "But you asked me out. It was your idea to 'go on a date' with me. Plus, we didn't do anything."

"And you agreed to it. Also, we were so close to falling in love; did you not see it? Stop playing the victim card here, because you're obviously not the victim." Sofia stood up from the bench and crossed her arms. "Seriously, we could've been one of those 'friends' who'd have too much to drink, and we could've fucked each other. You're such a cheater, Michael. What's your ex-girlfriend's number? I want to talk to her about what it was like having a shitty boyfriend."

"I'm not giving you her number."

She grabbed ahold of his shirt and got in his face. "Give me her damn number now!"

Michael laughed at her. "Or what?"

Sofia used her other hand and wrapped it around his neck, tightly squeezing it. "This."

He mentioned to her that he had written something down, despite her suffocating him, saying, "Holy shit, you're strong! I can see that you were athletic in school, but...okay, I'll give it to you! Chill out, you psycho!"

Sofia let go of his neck. "Good, thank you. Besides, you deserved that for treating this Grace girl like she was nothing."

Michael took a moment to catch his breath, and after a moment, he used a corner of the paper to write down Grace's number. Sofia snatched the paper out of his hand and raised her middle finger at him, eventually walking away and leaving him by himself.


	26. Chapter 26

Grace found herself waking back up in the hospital room, still feeling exhausted and worn down from her short nap. She stared at the clock on the wall, reading three in the afternoon, and yawned from tiredness.

She also happened to wake up at the same time a nurse walked in the room. The nurse--"Katherine Miller, RN," as her name tag said--closed the door behind her and moved herself closer to Grace. Katherine placed her hands on the bed railings and smiled at Grace.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Thompson?" Katherine asked her.

Grace rubbed her eyes. "I feel like complete trash. I tried resting for a longer time, but I'm having no luck getting a decent amount of sleep. It seems like I always wake up an hour or less after closing my eyes."

"I think your body is trying to adjust getting back into a sleeping schedule, but with you staying awake for a long time, your body is probably used to not sleeping. I know on those TV shows where characters don't sleep for a while, but they soon crash when they finally get the chance. Far as I know, that's not how it really works. Just keep on resting, and you'll get more hours of sleep in, but be patient; it does take a while."

"I also heard that the doctor wanted me to stay awake during the day, but the daytime is when it's time to rest for me. I can see that my mother brought in my journal, and literally everything recent I've been writing about is all happening. At this point, I don't care who reads it. Hasn't the doctor read it? If he has, he should know that I'm saving my sleep for the daytime only for a certain reason."

"He has read it, and so have I," Katherine replied. "We already know the rumor is going around, thanks to you. It's nice you're keeping these people safe by telling authority figures about it. Is it all true, though? Are there really these...animatronics...out and about murdering innocent people?"

"Well, let me ask: who do you think I got stabbed by? Something like a knife? No. The marks in my skin are obviously marks from some sort of claws. Yes, those robotic monsters have sharp claws, and I was hurt by a set of them. My ex-boyfriend's little brother has been seeing these animatronics, too, so don't think I'm crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy. I never thought that these murders were human either once I first heard about the incidents around town." Katherine sighed, still smiling. "Now, I hate to switch the subject here. We probably didn't tell you, but because one of those animatronics stabbed you in your upper abdomen, we were very cautious about you losing blood. The surgeons noticed you were on your monthly cycle, so I suggested that we inserted an IUD temporarily inside you, and we did. If you don't know what that is, it's a type of birth control, but we did it so we could help balance the amount of blood in your body."

Grace hesitated. "You're basically saying my period is way lighter?"

"Yes, it's very, very light right now," Katherine explained. "You were bleeding in two places at once, and we had to desperately stop you from losing too much blood. If we encouraged the bleeding from the lower part of your body to continue, it would've be difficult to maintain the overall amount of blood in your whole system. Because you were out of it, though, the other surgeons wanted to do an endometrial ablation, but we didn't want to do that without you or your family's permission. An IUD was a more simple and less expensive method."

"When will the IUD be taken out?"

"Whenever your period stops. For now, we're leaving it in, just so you don't lose some blood and suffer from anemia."

"Um, thank you...really. If that IUD really is playing a role in saving my life, I appreciate it. Yes, I agree that I could've died if my bleeding in that area continued. I'm fine with it in."

Katherine made her way back towards the door. "Need anything right now?"

"No, not now."

"Well, if you need anything, like food, use that one button on the remote."

Grace nodded her head at her. "Got it."

Katherine opened the door and left the room, leaving Grace all by herself. As soon as the nurse was out of the room, Grace leaned back in the bed, her head against the pillow. She nervously looked at the clock in front of her, watching the one hand move as every second went by. It now read "3:05 PM," and Grace felt her heart rate speed up, knowing that once midnight hit, the animatronics would come out for the night. 

Grace was unsure what the Nightmares would do. She never knew if they would break into the hospital, like what happened to Matthew, and kill her there in the room, or if they would still go after Matthew with no protection by his side. Her thoughts freaked her out so much that her heart monitor detected her heart rate, and it created faster beeping sounds. She took many deep breaths, and within a couple moments, the sounds on the monitor slowed down.

Grace wasted more time in the hospital room by drawing on empty pieces of paper in her journal. She went from random sketches to drawings of the actual Nightmare animatronics. Though she never identified herself as an artist, she carefully put detail into her sketches and took her time on them. Grace drew Nightmare Freddy first, then Nightmare Foxy, then Nightmare Bonnie, then Nightmare Chica.

She drew a line, up and down, next to each drawn animatronic and wrote a few numbers next to the line, estimating how tall each one of the animatronics were--Nightmare Freddy currently being the tallest and Nightmare Chica currently being the shortest. Grace also added a note on the page of Nightmare Freddy that he seemed to be the only animatronic that could talk to people.

"Evil, deep sounding voice," she told herself as she wrote more words down.

The door to the hospital room suddenly opened, and Grace immediately closed her journal. She waited patiently to see who was coming in, and she was surprised to see Matthew and an unfamiliar man walking in. 

"Matthew, who is this?" Grace asked, pointing at the man.

"I'm sure you'd know, Grace," the stranger told her. "Do you recognize my voice from that 911 call? Remember when you reported to me that dead little girl?"

She placed her hand back on the bed and never answered right away. "Andrew? That was you who I was connected with?"

"Yes, it was. I can guarantee that was truly me."

At the same time the two were starting to talk, Matthew ran over to the bed and jumped on it, hugging Grace. "Wait, you're alive! I thought you would be dead!"

Grace wrapped her arms around him, ending her conversation with Andrew, and looked down at the hyper child. "I'm alive, but I'm still recovering in this room. It's mostly great for me to see you alive, Matthew. Now, come on. Get off the bed, please."

"Sorry." He crawled off the bed and stood next to Andrew. "I'm just excited."

She stared back up at Andrew. "What's going on with you? You seem down."

"What? No, Grace, I'm just fine! I'm tired from doing my job, that's all." He placed his hands in his pockets. "Now, after I happened to come across Matthew here, I wanted to come talk to you; it's about the animatronics going around town."

Grace kept her eyes on him, listening to him closely.

"I know I was the first to mention this problem to you, but I am really starting to think that these animatronics exist," Andrew told her. "When meeting Matthew, he revealed to me that he saw my father being murdered by one of these bastards; he mentioned he was absolutely sure he witnessed my father's murder. You know a cop named Nelson by any chance? He was the only cop in the fleet with this last name, and knowing that was my own father, I was heartbroken when I heard the news."

She felt her heart being broken as well. "Is that why you're upset? I'm so sorry."

"Yes, that's the reason." He sighed. "Don't apologize; you did nothing wrong."

"But your father is dead. I do want to show that I feel sympathy for you."

He shrugged his shoulders in silence. "Anyways, I thought at first that these animatronics probably weren't real, but after hearing about my father, I changed my perspective. There is, without a doubt, that something is out there killing all these people, and by the behavior of the murderers that Matthew told me, there is no way they are no human beings. I thought that when you recover, we can hunt these bastards down. I'll be glad to get a couple of my friends if needed; they are huge fans of the supernatural."

Grace folded her hands in her lap. "I'm not sure, Andrew. Facing the Nightmares--yes, I called the group of them 'Nightmares'--is a huge, dangerous risk. I'd let the federal officers, if the local cops would ask the government for their help, take care of the task to deactivate or destroy them. I mean, federal officers may use special armor to prevent getting bitten or stabbed. We just have to figure out what kind of armor they may need, because some materials the Nightmares can easily bite or poke through. I can only think of metal; I don't know if they can make holes in that."

Andrew noticed Grace's journal. "Hey, do you have a sheet in there I can use?"

"What do you need paper for?"

"I'm going to write to the president. This incident around town is getting ridiculous. Haven't you heard the news lately? The amount of people getting killed is dramatically going up, and I think it'll only get worse. The mayor of this town has been keeping track of the population, and we're now above 49,000 people; we were at 50-some-thousand beforehand. According to the mayor, we lost over 130 people."

She widened her eyes at him. "Weren't we just under 100 deaths?"

"Yes, but that has jumped since last night. By six AM tomorrow, I feel like we're going to be near 200; that's a guess, but it would most likely happen."

Grace reached out her arm to allow Andrew to grab the paper. "Write! We really need the help!"

"Can I use your pen, too?" he asked as he took the paper from her. 

"Oh, this isn't mine, but sure." She also handed him the writing utensil. "It's the hospital's, but put it on the table here--" Grace pointed to the table next to her bed--"whenever you're done with it."

"Thank you."

As Andrew walked away from the bed and sat in a nearby chair, beginning to write on the paper. Matthew moved himself closer to the bed and leaned his arms against the railings.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? You look...sick." Matthew frowned at Grace.

"I look sick, but I'll be just fine. I lost a lot of blood, but the surgeons managed to balance my levels out." Grace patted his shoulder. "If I happened to lose so much blood, I probably wouldn't be alive, but I'm lucky that I am."

"When will you return to work? Your boss and Purple Guy looked a bit concerned for you."

"Were you there at Fredbear's again?"

"Yes, but my brother abandoned me again."

"That's no surprise to me." She lightly tapped the bed, telling Matthew he could lay on it, and he climbed onto the bed. "It's okay, though, because I already believe everything you tell me about him. Plus, I haven't said this to you, but Michael and I are no longer together. Now, that doesn't mean I'll be away from you; I'll still be around to protect you. More than likely, I'll make sure Michael is locked up somewhere, because he doesn't deserve to be treating you in such a horrible way."

"Jail?"

"I would only report him to the cops if he abuses you. I forgot, has he been abusing you?"

"What is abuse?"

"Abuse is mostly when Michael is physically placing violence on you, but there are other types of abuse. Name calling is considered abuse, too, but people can get away with verbal abuse. Hmm, what's the other one?"

Matthew felt Grace wrap her arm around him, letting him know that she was comforting him. "He has punched me in the face before, and he has also shoved me around."

"Well, in the meantime, none of that is going to happen with me around."

A voice in the room suddenly interrupted their moment. "Sorry, I'm drawing a blank here. How do you spell 'bureau?'"

Grace noticed that Andrew was staring at her, pausing his moment of writing on the paper he was given. "Uh, I think it's...B-u-r--need me to slow down?"

"No, I got those."

"Alright. The other letters are e-a-u."

"Thanks, Grace." Andrew smiled at her.

Grace was grinning back at him, and she laid her eyes back on Matthew.

"You're a great speller," Matthew commented. 

"Well, thank you, Matthew." She nervously giggled at him. "Some words I still struggle with, but you know...I just practice."

After a few moments passed by, with Grace and Matthew talking about random things, Andrew stood up from the chair and offered to read out his letter.

"I'll just read off the main paragraphs, none of those 'Dear' or 'Sincerely' parts," he told Grace. "I hope what I wrote is good enough."

"Tell it." Grace waited patiently. "I'll let you know if there are some changes you may need to make. Not trying to brag, but in high school, I was in a literature club. Many students told me I was like a professional book editor when it came to checking out their essays and stuff. You're lucky to have me as a reference right now."

"Well, my letter is nothing too fancy, but I still tried to make it decent enough."

"And I'm waiting for you to read it." She laughed at him.

Andrew chuckled back and cleared his throat. "Okay, this is what I got. I tried summarizing up the murders around town here."

Grace listened carefully, and so did Matthew, as Andrew began to read it.

"_I am writing this to you as a request for something very urgent. I come from East Providence, Rhode Island, and some of the citizens here are desperately needing help. I hope this message gets through, because, as soon as possible, we need a lot more than just local police officers to stop this incident that has been going around our town. We may need the Federal Bureau of Investigation into this, or some other kind of federal agency that can assist with mass murders or similar criminal activities._

_ For the past two weeks, many people have been missing around the entire town of East Providence with their bodies not being found, except two or three cases only. The mayor has been keeping track of our population, and it is dramatically decreasing, but it would keep on dropping if nothing is done. This is why we really need as much help as we could get._

_ I should explain who is behind this problem, and it may sound unbelievable, but I know a few people who have seen the culprits themselves, and they do not think I am insane. Have you heard of the company Fazbear's Entertainment and their establishments of Fredbear's Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria? The things that have been causing these disappearances are, believe it or not, more menacing looking versions of those animatronics found in the pizzeria. _

_ I am an acquaintance of a young lady named Grace Thompson. She claimed to be the first people I met to see one of these animatronics roaming her neighborhood past midnight, a fox animatronic that she called 'Nightmare Foxy.' As of the time that I'm writing this very letter, she is in the hospital from being wounded by one of these nightmarish looking robots. Grace has been injured, and almost killed, by an animatronic that she named 'Nightmare Freddy.' She has five holes in her upper abdomen, and she was bleeding out from where these holes were punctured._

_ I have heard that these Freddy and Foxy counterparts, also counting 'Nightmare Bonnie' and 'Nightmare Chica,' have extremely sharp claws and teeth. They appear very differently than their original counterparts, and they overall look as if they belong in a person's dreams. There is, no doubt, that simply staring at them would give someone a hint of fear and anxiety. _

_ Grace, too, is currently emotionally unstable from encountering these strange Nightmare animatronics, but beforehand, she was a much braver and happier girl. She has even sacrificed her health to defend a child she got to meet and know. Grace has never slept for 72 hours, and the child she is watching now heard that she suddenly had a seizure in the hospital room from her lack of sleep. How can she rapidly go downhill from healthy to practically unhealthy? Something is clearly wrong, and these Nightmares are the clear reason behind the drop in her health. I am worried about her, but I will make sure that she is able to get any help she may need as she recovers, both mentally and physically._

_ I have also heard the news that my father was supposedly murdered by one of the animatronics--Nightmare Freddy. I heard he brutally stabbed my father in multiple places on his body, scratched him, and he even bit him on the neck. I do not know how to feel about his sudden death, other than feeling a mix of anger and depression. When I was told, it was so unexpected, and I am agreeing with the idea of looking for these vicious animatronics._

_ Now, anything that has to do with law enforcement runs throughout my family, as I am a local 911 operator, and my father was a police officer. I am starting to wonder if the animatronics are also targeting cops, but this I am not too sure about. I would imagine they would do such a thing, just so no one could receive help. As of now, the only cop I know is dead is my father._

_ That's why I say, we're dealing with a mass murder crisis right now. I do not know who exactly built these animatronics, but I know we must find him and do something with him. Please help us. I wish this was all a joke and complete nonsense, but we're fighting for our lives during the times the animatronics come out every night--midnight to six AM. Send out the FBI or other federal officers, and please make sure they wear special armor when hunting down these animatronics._

_ Thank you._"


	27. Chapter 27

Matthew woke up next to Grace, and he glanced quickly around the room. He noticed that it was only her and him, both laying in the bed together with her arm securely wrapped around his shoulders. Seeing that she was still sleeping, Matthew carefully and slowly moved her arm off his body.

The time now read "11:47 PM," and when realizing what time it exactly was, he sighed, reminding himself that the Nightmare animatronics would be active shortly. To him, the time may have seemed like a long time, but it felt as if almost 15 minutes was really only five minutes. He frowned and jumped off the bed, quietly making his way towards one of the chairs in the room.

Matthew adjusted himself on the chair and used his arm to lean his head against his hand. He used his other hand to draw his finger into the chair--with fur covering it--and watched in boredom as some of the individual fur strings moved from him running his finger over them. He adjusted his position once again, after playing with the chair arms, and placed his head against the headrest.

Matthew began to do other things to pass the time. One thing he did was that he used his fingers as guns and began to pretend he was shooting at random stuff. Not too long after his moment of playing, he still felt bored and put his hands back in his lap.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered to himself. "Seems like the real fun happens at midnight."

Matthew heard Grace breathed heavily out of her nose, and at the same time, she rolled over on the other side of the bed, still being fully asleep. He remained quiet and impatiently waited for the time to hit midnight. Because he originally fell asleep next to Grace, he was considering going to the cafeteria to get food, but Matthew didn't want to leave Grace by herself in case anything would happen.

"I really wish I had my Fredbear plush," he mumbled. "He is the main one that makes me feel safer than my other plushies. I think I left him at home."

As the minutes continued to pass by, Matthew felt his heart race faster and faster. He anxiously stared up at the clock and noticed that the big minute hand was two minutes close to hitting the 12, and the second hand was halfway around the clock. He nervously swallowed and looked back at Grace. He jumped off the chair and climbed back on top of the bed, shaking Grace's body violently.

"Grace, wake up!" Matthew whispered. "It's almost time!"

"For what?" she softly replied with exhaustion, her eyes still closed.

"The animatronics are going to be active in about a minute or so! Come on! Wake up!"

Grace's eyes immediately opened, and she quickly sat up in bed. "Really? It's almost midnight?"

"Yeah, look." He pointed at the clock. 

"I must have not been sleeping for long; it feels like it." She unraveled some of the tubes attached to her that got twisted while asleep. "I'm not sure what they're going to do, Matthew. I know the Nightmares love to hang out in your house, but with you not there, they may come here. Oh, I hope they don't."

"I hope not either, and like you said, I don't know why they love my home. My house is typically full of monsters, even Michael is one."

Grace sighed. "I know."

"Did I upset you? I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't. I'm actually happy I'm no longer with him; I feel so free being from him." She smiled. "Just know that I'll still be hanging around you to defend you from both him and the Nightmares. You don't deserve living in that house of hell; you deserve living as a much happier kid somewhere else with a better family."

"Yeah, I don't deserve being in that home right now. At least we're both here at the hospital and not there. Sometimes, I feel happier outside of my house: I also feel free."

"Look, speaking of being here, if the Nightmares pay us a visit, I have a plan in case the nurses or doctor don't normally check up on me." She motioned Matthew to get closer to her, and he turned one of his ears up towards her mouth. "When the time comes, I will lay back here in my bed. If I happen to see a Nightmare outside my window, I'll be pretending that I am asleep. More than likely, the animatronic would sneak in without trying to disturb me.

For you, you'll be outside the room. If any staff asks why you're out by yourself, say that you know where my room is, but you're just walking around the level we're on, and definitely hang out around a security guard. If I scream because an animatronic is trying to attack me, you get that security guard to come in at the same time as you do; my scream also would be like a warning signal for you to come to me. In the meantime, I'll be defending myself until you two run into the room."

Matthew thought deeply for a moment, trying to figure out the plan.

"You do know what room we're in, right?" Grace asked as he laid his eyes on her. "Be sure you remember the number."

"I know what room this is."

"Okay. Now, do you get my plan, though?"

He nodded his head at her. "Yes, I understand."

"Do you?" Grace stared at him with a serious look on her face. "You have to be very quick when you're running into the room."

"I'm certain that I understand, but why do I need to get a security guard? There are people at a desk outside the room."

"Yes, but they're not armed with any weapons. I know guns are not much against the animatronics, but those are at least some sort of defense tool. Also, security guards are not police officers, but they are authority figures; it makes much more sense to bring one into the room when an animatronic is in the room with me."

"Why?"

"Security guards in hospitals are there to protect all patients if any sudden incident occurs. Kind of like cops, who protect citizens, security guards have a similar role to those other authority figures, except the type of people they protect are different."

Matthew stayed silent and nodded his head at her. 

"Now, let's just hope no animatronics actually come here. If I feel like one, or more, is near my window, I'll remind you to go outside the room."

"Got it." He got off the hospital bed and went back over to the chair. "I'll just hang out here."

Grace giggled. "You do that."

Another few moments of silence struck the inside of the room as the clock suddenly hit past midnight. Both Matthew and Grace refused to speak as they listened carefully if there were any signs of the Nightmares coming towards the room's window. So far, nothing happened, and Grace never noticed any glowing eyes outside the window.

"Don't look out the window," she warned him. "That's my job."

"I wasn't planning on doing that."

"I was just reminding you, and remember, when I close my eyes and give you a signal that they are probably coming, you leave the room. I'll scream at some point if I'm in trouble, and you run in with the closest security guard you can find."

"What kind of signal will you give me before I leave this room?"

"Hmm, I'll lift up one of my hands and point towards the door. Make sure you're watching me, so you know when to leave."

"And why are we doing this? If the Nightmares kill people with no one else around, won't we have more people in here?"

Grace smirked at him. "I just like the idea of outsmarting the animatronics. We can show them that we know how to create ideas to scare them off. They like to inflict fear on us, we'll do the same to them and make them feel like they can't get to us, no matter what we do."

"No, Grace, you're not thinking right! I know you're tired! I know you haven't slept! I know you're not thinking the right way! It's better and safer just to have multiple people in the room with us!"

"Huh, smart kid." She laughed softly at him. "You know, Matthew, you're correct that I am exhausted, but I'm just trying something to get them away from us."

Matthew started to cry. "Are you really this risky? I hate to be rude, but you were smarter before. If you did sleep on schedule, you wouldn't be so tired that you aren't thinking right and that you're willing to risk yourself to die. This isn't the Grace I know. I don't even think the old Grace will come back if you sleep more and more and get back to being fully awake. You wanted to avoid the animatronics in the beginning, but now you want to actually face them in a way where you could die? What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, stop being so paranoid, Matthew. I'm a tough girl."

"I don't think you are. You've been injured twice by the same animatronic when you've tried to fight back. Please, Grace. I think that you've been so interested in these Nightmares that you're also risky because of them. I don't want you dead." He felt tears running down his face. "I feel like the old you won't come back when you're fully awake; I just feel it."

Grace frowned at him. "May I ask what's going through your smartass mind?"

"You." Matthew got up from the chair and stood next to the bed. "When I was left at Fredbear's, I heard your boss mention that you couldn't work properly at the diner. I know you stayed awake for so long just to defend me, but you've become so emotional that I hardly know you anymore. Don't think I never heard about you from last night when I was at home; I've never heard of you going psycho when not knowing if I was okay. Even when you're tired, you've become so paranoid and easily mad that I think those would still stay with you when you get your sleeping schedule back on track."

"That's not possible, Matthew. I'll change myself."

"I don't think that'll happen." Matthew placed his arms on the bed railings. "It's okay to be concerned for me, but please don't be freaking out. It makes me upset if I imagine or see you crying over me. And now what's with you wanting to fight the Nightmares? I'd never even get a few feet away from them. Don't prove yourself that you're physically strong; I already know you are in a way."

"What part of me is strong then?"

"Your love is." He shyly smiled at her, a couple tears still on his face. "You always had such a motherly affection towards me. You may defend me and protect me, but like as if you were my own mom, I don't want to see you hurt, because it makes me feel hurt as well. Please just listen to me, and let's both stay safe."

"But I've been told I'm a selfless girl, Matthew. I'd really let myself die for you, not lying."

"As I said, I don't want you dead. Please, Grace!" Matthew started bursting into more tears, and he covered his face. "Please! Please! What will I do without you? What will your own mom and dad do without you?"

"Alright. Fine." She rolled her eyes and held out her hands to him. "Come here."

Matthew began to climb on the bed, but before he could fully get on it, he stared out the window, noticing only one pair of glowing eyes staring at the two of them. Grace looked at Matthew, confused, and then also glanced over at the window, seeing the glowing eyes.

"The fuck is Nightmare Freddy doing here?" Grace asked and whispered to Matthew, "Get a security guard--actually, call for one."

"On it." He tried to stay strong, but Matthew felt huge wave of fear overcome him, feeling his heart rate speeding up.

Grace noticed her heart was racing as well, but she, too, managed to remain calm. Behind shaky, anxious hands, she gave Nightmare Freddy the finger, and this caused him to growl from behind the window.

"Where are your pathetic friends?" she yelled. "Huh?"

"Shut up, Grace!" Matthew exclaimed and opened the door to call for a nearby security guard.

With no guard in his sight, he told her he would be right back and rushed out the door to the desk from outside. Matthew ran up to the desk that a nurse was sitting at and begged for a security guard.

"What's the problem, young man?" the nurse asked him in a calm tone. 

"I just...need a security guard! Someone is in that room!" He pointed at the very room Grace was in.

Meanwhile, Grace was still in the room, and she kept staring at Nightmare Freddy, who was still behind the window. He eventually got angry with Grace constantly smart-mouthing him, and he used both of his hands to punch the window into glass pieces. Grace screamed in fear, but she immediately covered it up.

"That was random," she quickly told him. "I'm not scared of you!"

The animatronic got closer to her bed, and he leaned over her, causing her to sink down and lay flat in her bed. "Oh, are you?"

"Yeah, I am not scared."

Nightmare Freddy quickly grabbed ahold of her neck, tightly squeezing it, and also curled up her breathing tube with his same hand to prevent her from getting oxygen. "I doubt that, but I couldn't help but to notice you're still breathing. After I do this for a while, that breathing of yours will no longer happen."

"What do you want from me?" Grace gripped her hands on the bed sheets, feeling tears form in her eyes, and without hesitation, she eventually tried to lift his hands off her neck, but he was twice as stronger than she was. 

"What do you think I want from you? I want you dead." He laughed evilly at her as she started gasping for air, also coughing. "I have noticed, too, that as beautiful as you were before, it's hilarious seeing you appear so worn out and looking like you're way uglier. I can easily see you're so tired of me and my friends. I love it."

Grace heard her heart monitor beeping faster, and she turned her head towards it, seeing that her heart rate was higher and her oxygen level was dropping. She then faced herself to look back up in Nightmare Freddy's eyes and used both of her hands to hit him in his face, hoping it would stop him from holding her down, but he only used his other hand to hang onto her arms. Grace now felt trapped and useless.

"Now, will you calm down, sweetheart, and let death come closer to you? You were so panicky, just like a little bitch, about being brutally killed, so how does a peaceful death sound to you?"

"I don't want to...die either...way! Just let...me go!" Grace constantly moved her head from side-to-side and tried yanking her arms out of his hands, also hoping it would allow Nightmare Freddy to let go, but it all did nothing. "Stop! Please!"

"Begging for me to stop? That unfortunately won't do anything."

A moment later, Nightmare Freddy nervously looked over at the door as he heard footsteps running towards the room, and Grace stopped panicking to look as well. The door suddenly swung open, and Matthew was standing there beside a security guard, who had his gun reloaded and pointed at Nightmare Freddy. The guard looked surprised to see a random animatronic in the room with Grace, but he still tried to do his job without showing fear.

After eyeing the animatronic for a couple of seconds, he shouted at Nightmare Freddy to "stop right there," but the nightmarish bear already started to escape the room through the window. The security guard fired multiple shots at him and chased after him, but Nightmare Freddy was already out of sight. At the same time the guard kept peeking out the window, Matthew ran over to Grace's bed, and she leaned over to the side, coughing multiple times into the mask.

"The hell was that?" the security guard asked and went over to Grace. "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she yelled at him, coughing even more. "I was strangled by some animatronic! Obviously, I'm not alright!"

"I'm going to get some nurses in here to take care of you, and I'm also going to call a lockdown on this place."

"Really? Another lockdown, like the other incident at the other hospital?" Grace sat back in her bed, slowly breathing. "Hey, don't worry about getting nurses; I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure I'm fine!"

The security guard didn't say anything and left the room, leaving Matthew and Grace by themselves.

"Grace, you shouldn't have made him angry," he said. "I heard the comments you made to him."

She placed a hand on her forehead and still managed to catch her breath. "Being mean to him or not, he wants me dead! No matter where I go, it seems like he always knows where I am! I can't escape him! To make things worse, he seems to be the strongest, the most brutal, and the most evil! He's like the leader, Matthew, and that just even makes things for me even more horrible! The fucking leader is after me, because he doesn't want me to be there for you! What about my family? He may go after them, too!"

Matthew remained silent.

Grace started to cry. "This is getting ridiculous! If the government doesn't act soon, I'm literally going to kill myself to escape this nightmare!"

"Grace, don't say that! I don't want you dead!"

"What would you rather do, Matthew--die your own peaceful way or be murdered in a painful and brutal way?"

"Neither! You shouldn't either!"

Grace began to yank on her breathing mask, and Matthew immediately noticed. He grabbed both of her arms, trying to stop her, and he also called out for help, as he didn't know what else to do. She moved his hands off her arms and tried to stop herself from getting more oxygen. 

"I need help, please!" Matthew hollered, trying to get his hands back on her arms. "Please! Someone! My friend is trying to kill herself!"

"Fucking stop, Matthew!" She pushed him away from the bed. "I'm doing what's right for myself! Stay out of this!"


	28. Chapter 28

Matthew and Grace hugged each other in fear as the hospital was placed on lockdown. They heard that more authority figures, including cops, surrounded the building with tons of weapons on them, but despite the huge security around the hospital, they still felt unsafe and vulnerable.

Both of them were transported to another room, as it was not a safe idea for a patient to be in a room with broken glass all over the floor. Though she was still attached to multiple tubes, the staff allowed Grace to walk herself to the new hospital room. At first, they suggested she must go in a wheelchair, but she guaranteed that she was fine with walking.

Beforehand, Grace finally calmed down after her short meltdown with her trying to pull off the oxygen mask. Matthew was the one who was mostly trying to make her relax, and she listened to him as he brought up the same questions from earlier, such as, "What will your family do without you?" and "What will I do without you?" Grace maintained her breathing rate and lessened the stress by laying back on her bed, clearing her mind from the intense moment of trying to kill herself.

"Are you sure you don't need nurses to help care for you, even after what happened?" Matthew asked her. 

"I'm positive that I'm alright." She started to cry, but she wiped her tears. "Sorry that I seemed bitchy earlier. I know I'm just...tired."

"I think I overdid something myself, too, when I tried talking to you about your health."

"No, you're right, Matthew. Lack of sleep really messes with someone's mind, and the emotions I feel now may carry on with me when I finally balance my sleeping schedule. In the meantime, I may need to work on these emotions while I'm still exhausted. Is there a mental health counselor in this hospital?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I mean, is there one?"

"I would think there would be one. Pretty much every hospital has some mental health facility. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have one."

Matthew jumped off the bed and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. "Hey, Grace!"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when the Nightmares kidnapped me? I'm surprised I'm still alive after they ripped off everything that was attached to me. I had bandages and tubes ripped out, but once I woke up in my house, I wasn't bleeding out. Maybe the Nightmares somehow cleaned the blood off me."

"Hate to sound disgusting here, but they probably sucked it off your neck. I believe I've seen Nightmare Freddy taste a bit of my blood when he stabbed me." Grace was so tired and stressed out that she had forgotten about what happened to him. "Anyways, I am surprised about you, too, but look, Matthew; both of us are alright and alive, despite our injuries. If I had to, I could be released right now without all of these tubes in me, and I'd still be okay, but I know nurses and doctors want to make sure their patients are alright for sure."

Matthew walked out of the bathroom and stood next to the bed. "I don't want to leave, though, because we're more safer here than at my house or anywhere else. If we're outside the hospital, we'll be on the run from these monsters. Actually, leave the Nightmares to me. Nightmare Freddy may want to kill you, but they all really want me."

"There's no way I'm leaving you at home with those monsters!"

"Stop worrying about me, Grace!" he yelled. "I'm the one that they were after before you showed up! Thanks to you, they want you dead, too, so let me fend them off! I'm sorry, but I'm doing what's best for myself and you!"

"But Matthew--"

"Did you hear me? I don't want you dead! You were all safe before you started to protect me! Do I want you to be killed, because you're an obstacle to the animatronics? No!" He sighed. "I'm leaving!"

"Matthew, the place is on lockdown! Where are you going?"

Matthew ignored her as he rushed out of the room, soon searching for an adult that could give him a ride home.

* * *

Hours later, when the clock struck one in the morning, Matthew safely got a ride back to his house. Before reaching his house, cop standing outside the hospital happened to find Matthew wandering outside by himself, and he was glad to drop off the child at home. Matthew had lied to the police officer, saying that there was already someone at his house and that he was smart and mature enough to be out on his own. The cop was unsure about whether to believe him, but he went ahead and took him home.

He was questioned about who drove him to the hospital in the first place, and Matthew told the cop the truth, but he told him that he wasn't left behind unintentionally, too.

Matthew could already tell that the Nightmares have followed him as he was getting a ride in the cop car. He had seen some blips of their glowing eyes every time he looked out the car's window, and this had caused him to feel a great wave of fear. He covered his face, ignoring all the blips of light.

He had sighed to himself, thinking about much it was his fault for bringing Grace into this whole mess. Matthew thought that if she hadn't encountered Nightmare Foxy from the beginning, she wouldn't have been so interested in the animatronics that she is willing to risk her life when facing them. Even if she hasn't heard of the Nightmares before, he wouldn't have mentioned them to her, as her risk of death from the animatronics were high, just like his risk. He wouldn't have said anything just to save her.

Once he was back home, he grabbed the flashlight out of the kitchen drawer and pressed the button on it, making it flicker on. Although he felt his heart speeding up, Matthew kept telling himself that he was brave and strong, and he let out a deep breath, walking back to his bedroom.

He immediately spotted Nightmare Bonnie on the opposite side of his room when entering through the right door. He shined the flashlight on the animatronic, and the bright light caused Nightmare Bonnie to cover his face and run away from the door. Matthew ran over to the door the animatronic bunny was at, and he peaked out into the hallway, seeing the Bonnie counterpart hide behind the corner. 

He ran away from the left door and made his way to the closet, where Nightmare Foxy normally hid out in. Matthew shakily opened both of the doors and flashed the light on the inside, seeing the Foxy plush sitting inside, staring at him. He proceeded to check the other animatronics that were lurking around in his room.

As more hours passed by, and more tense moments of running around his room, Matthew was able to successfully fend off the Nightmares with just his flashlight once again. He still had about an hour left, and he felt like almost collapsing on the floor from exhaustion. He felt sweat develop on his face, and his heart still continued to race faster from anxiety. Matthew used his shirt to wipe off his face and started to breathe heavily through his mouth.

"I can do this!" he whispered, sitting on his bed. "So far, I'm doing great! These Nightmares won't get me!"

"I heard that," an evil voice suddenly replied. "You may have avoided my friends, but you haven't checked the bed. What is the problem with me? Ah, I should not even ask that. I already can tell you're too much of a baby to check for me."

Nightmare Freddy crawled out from under the bed, his claws touching the edge, and he laughed deeply at the child, soon hovering over the bed and bending his upper body down to level his face with Matthew's. He stared right into his eyes, and he noticed that Matthew tried his best to hold in his fear.

"You're just an animatronic," he told the bear, backing up from him. "I was afraid of you before, but now looking at you, I'm no longer scared."

"That's what all my victims say." Nightmare Freddy stood up and picked him up, tossing him off the bed. "Are you sure you're not secretly afraid of me? You sure you do not feel your heart race? You sure you don't have those thoughts about death running around in your mind? Face it, Matthew; I know fear when I see it."

Matthew carefully got back on his feet. "No, you do not! I'm brave as of now! You just think you're great at detecting fear, even if I'm not feeling that!"

"Do not try to lie to me. I know you are speaking untruthful things to me right now; I just know that you really are, and I am not falling for anything false that you tell me."

The child nervously laughed. "You think you're so smart, don't you, Nightmare Freddy?"

"Thank you for asking that. You should already know that I am."

"I was being sarcastic. You may be smart, but you're too stupid to tell that I was using sarcasm."

Nightmare Freddy tackled Matthew and held him against his will. "Now, you listen here, you pathetic child! I am the boss here! I am the most powerful and evil animatronic right now! You do not want to make me feel infuriated towards you, right? That bitch named 'Grace' has already said some statements towards me that I did not appreciate! You humans think you are all the intelligent ones, but hear me out; my friends and I run the show here! We are programmed to kill! We are programmed to be on the top of everyone else! Every human in this town will be dead, and our creator will be satisfied with everyone torn and bitten to bits! Do not try me, because I will get even angrier at you, and whatever 'smart things' you say to me will just encourage myself to be more brutal with you! Do not even think about being like Grace! As much as I want to kill you both already, I have had enough of the smartass comments!"

"Alright, fine! I won't say such comments to you! Chill out!" Matthew rolled his eyes at the animatronic. "Now, can you just let me go, please?"

"Well, because I got you now, should I? You're my next victim, Matthew, and I never allow any of my victims to run free."

"Next victim? How am I your next victim if you've been going after other people?"

"Oh, that is not me going after those other helpless people; those are my friends doing that. I have been taking a break until I had the perfect chance to get you and Grace. You two are my only victims."

"But what is so special about us? Why are you after both Grace and me?"

The animatronic let out another menacing laugh. "I noticed that you have ways of avoiding us, but how are you able to do such a thing? It is unbelievable how you get away from us with such ease! Our victims--we usually kill them in a short amount of time. Now, think about why I am here. With me being the most brutal one here, I can now chase you and Grace for days and never give in, while my friends go target the other worthless men, ladies, and children. I have you here now, right in front of me. Scream all you want. Fight back all you want. No one can hear or see you. That Grace girl is not present here at all; she is too far away to come save you from me. I do want to to say that there is clear uncertainty at this moment if that lady friend of yours will ever come back. I may have failed to kill her, but I will make sure she is dead one day. You then will have no one to come protect you or comfort you!"

"You won't kill her! She is the only person I have that cares for me! No one else does! You don't understand what loneliness feels like!'

"Oh no, such a sad, pathetic sob story! That is not working on me, you know that! You see me crying like a baby all the time? Hm, of course I have not! I do not cry at all, because for one, I am much tougher than you; second of all, crying is for little brats like you; and last of all, I am no human."

Matthew used his hands to try to push Nightmare Freddy's hands off. "Whatever! You will not win your stupid game! Not only are we getting the cops on you, but we're also getting the government after you! They will defeat you and your friends for sure, and don't think they believe we are crazy, because I know the officers would be willing to end you and your friends!"

Nightmare Freddy stared at the child with hesitation and, for the very first time, his own hint of fear. "You dare not! Why must you do that to us?"

"We are doing it to not only save ourselves but the other citizens! You deserve to be destroyed, you immoral monster! They will put an end to you and your friends! Just watch!"


	29. Chapter 29

It was one in the morning when Grace noticed Andrew walking in the hospital room. She had her arms crossed and appeared as if she was going to cry, as a few tears built up in her eyes. Andrew saw her eyes shine in some way, and he immediately ran over to her.

"Grace, what happened?" he asked in a panic. "Where is Mathew?"

"Where do you think he is?" She wiped some of the tears that were beginning to fall out of her eyes. "He ran off once again! I don't know what is with him! I try to tell him he can't face the Nightmares alone, but he doesn't seem to listen! I'm concerned for his safety!"

"Wait, he's done this multiple times?"

"I think only twice." Grace took a deep breath. "I don't know why he thinks that he can do that. He's just a child, Andrew!"

"I understand, Grace." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But children are going to act like children. I'm not sure myself why he likes to run off from you to face these robotic monsters, but we'll have to prevent him from doing so in the future. Where is he now? Is he at his house?"

"He told me he was heading back home, but don't think about going there, because you may die." Grace sighed at him. "Seriously, I hardly know you, Andrew, but you'll risk yourself if you go over to his house, and I don't want you to be murdered. All the Nightmare animatronics are there, going after Matthew. If you even step foot in the house, you'll grab the Nightmares' attention."

"Are they really that great at knowing when you're somewhere with them?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, the animatronics have incredible strength, stealth, and speed. If there's another thing they're good at, it's that they know when you are there to save their victim. I remember breaking open the front door to Matthew's house--I didn't completely break the whole thing off, if you're wondering--and all of them immediately hid. More than likely, I think that they thought I didn't know about them at the time, and they wanted to hide their presence. That didn't fool me, though, because I already know about them."

Andrew chuckled at her. "Those bastards are secretive, huh? I think whoever built them, though, failed greatly. They may still murder people without being unseen or unheard, but the animatronics still have exposed themselves somehow. Matthew has seen them. You've seen them. Now, with you telling other people, the news about them have spread, and it's all over town. That's why I say, I think they may have been mostly been unseen or unheard of, but eventually, you were one of those who have been lucky enough to spot them, and you helped reveal their identities. They're not so secret now."

"You're obviously not wrong." She dried more of her tears. "I just want to ask a couple things, Andrew. I could've swore I heard Matthew say that we should team up to help track them down. Who is it going to be? I know that my two friends don't think I'm crazy, so maybe they may tag along. I also know that you want to help get rid of these guys, too. But my main concern is who came up with this idea, because we'll be risking our lives, basically, if we go after the Nightmares?"

"That was me, Grace; I came up with the idea. Is it too much?"

"It is a helpful idea, but it's dangerous. I'd say that if the government finally sends out some federal officers, we could lead them, because we know about the animatronics. I'm still worried about dying." Grace took a couple deep breaths to lessen her stress, and she grabbed her journal. "I'll have to show this to them if they need some information. Not only have I wrote about my experiences encountering the Nightmares, but I kind of sketched out their appearances and some other small information about them."

"Oh, have you?" Andrew peeked over to look at her journal, which was flipped open to a page about one of the animatronics. 

"Like what I wrote about Nightmare Freddy here, I just added a note that he seems to be the only one programmed with speech. I don't know if his friends could talk, but I know that he speaks like he has high intelligence. Well, he is smart, but you'll have to hear him, Andrew; his choice of words when talking is...probably a lot better than mine." She nervously laughed. 

"Nonsense. I'm sure you're smarter than that fucking animatronic bear. Matthew told me you're quite an intelligent young lady, and he's fascinated by how you sometimes speak to him."

"Well, thank you, but Nightmare Freddy is very smart, and I say he's more intelligent than me, because he knows how to kill and get away with it. Now, if that doesn't make him intelligent, then I don't know what else makes him very smart for a self-aware, vicious robot."

Andrew glanced up at her. "Look, both of you are smart, alright? Here's the thing, though: a very smart person versus a very smart animatronic is quite a combination. I think Nightmare Freddy wants you dead for a certain reason, not only because Matthew told me that bear sees you as an obstacle, but that animatronic fella also sees you as an overall threat. Using your intelligence against his makes quite a battle between you two. Matthew also said to me that you have tried your own certain ways of avoiding Nightmare Freddy, whereas at the same time, he was trying to come up with his own ideas to go after you. Haven't you thought about that?"

Grace hesitated. "I like how logical you are, Andrew, but I doubt that. Look at me now, though; I lost tons of blood from him attacking me, and with three days of no sleep, I feel a lot dumber than before. On top of that, I look like I'm older from the blood I lost, I am weaker, and I am more emotional. I think the only strong and intelligent one at this point is Nightmare Freddy."

"Matthew told me the main part of you that's still strong is your motherly affection towards him. Say you're weak all you want, but no, Grace, you are not."

She shook her head in disagreement. "Andrew, I'd hate to argue, but that's just a false statement you said to me. Nightmare Freddy is slowly killing me off, even my mental state is dying down. When he attacked me, he was less brutal, but that's because he likes to see stereotypical weaker women and kids react to the pain he's inflicting on them instead of immediately murdering them. The softer he stabs or bites those kinds of people, the longer they'll survive their injuries and the greater of a chance they would react more to the pain. He did that to me; he just wanted to see me suffer, but yes, he has failed to kill me completely. Also, not too long ago, he broke into this hospital--how'd you even get in here through security?--and tried to 'peacefully' murder me by squeezing my neck tightly and blocking my oxygen tubes. You see this face of mine?" Grace pointed at herself. "This is the face of someone who is getting weaker and dumber. How do I say I'm becoming an idiot? I had an argument with Matthew about me wanting to actually physically fight off the Nightmares, but I never thought how stupid that sounded, as he was trying to convince me to think of other ways to stay safe. Face it, Andrew; I may only have one thing about me that's strong, but I am definitely weak in other places."

"Grace, on that one part, you were not thinking right because you were tired. If you withdraw from sleep for a long time, your brain will start to go all over the place, and you'll lose coordination and your thinking process, but that does not make you stupid. That's basically you saying that a lack of sleep will make you dumber; I have never heard of a thing like that, and I hate to say it, but that's nothing. You are intelligent, and do not say you aren't, because you're just speaking bullshit."

She sighed. "I have heard all of that multiple times, but I know that I won't be the same person when I finally 'wake up' more, so don't tell me how you think I'll act! Andrew, I've told you before that I'm not arguing with you. End of conversation."

Andrew walked over to the opposite side of the room, placing his hands in his pockets. "Is that what you really think of yourself?"

"Of course, and please, don't give me another inspiring speech like what you just did, because it won't work on me."

He turned around to face her, and he remained silent for a moment. "Just wondering, are the Nightmares capable of mentally manipulating humans?"

"Weird question. Why do you ask that?"

"It's just that Matthew noticed you started to go downhill after your first encountered the Nightmares. I forgot to bring this up after Matthew told me, just to let you know. It seems as if the animatronics know how to induce paranoia and fear in people, because how is it you aren't scared of normal-looking animatronics, but then as soon as you lay eyes on a Nightmare, you immediately have panic or paranoia attacks?"

"What kind of nonsense is leaving your mouth? Why do you think I freak out when I see them? I'm scared of them, just because they viciously murder people. I always thought that normal animatronics were weird, but the Nightmares are a whole other level of creepiness." Grace crossed her arms. "They probably can manipulate people, but I'm not too sure. If they were controlling my mental state by making me experience abnormal anxiety attacks, they were doing a great job. Nightmare Freddy, mostly, seems to be doing that kind of thing, as I always was creeped out hearing his voice. I still am terrified of him, though."

Andrew nodded his head. "I understand."

"Oh, um, there was something I asked not too long ago. I questioned how you got passed security."

"A couple police officers had to check to make sure I wasn't a threat to the hospital, and I successfully got in here after a quick check. How can I be a threat, though, if the intruder here was some robot? That's what I don't get."

"Those cops just want to make sure everyone is as safe as possible, I guess."

Right as they both were talking about the hospital being on lockdown, a female cop slowly opened the door and peeked inside, glancing around the room. Grace and Andrew looked back at her, confused.

"Yes, may I help you?" Grace asked and noticed she never answered right away. "Is something wrong, or what?"

"I'm just seeing if everything was okay," the police officer replied. "I got a call about what happened earlier, and I'm checking if every patient is alright and safe."

More hesitation struck the room as she took a few more seconds to keep watch in the room. A male voice began to talk through the radio attached on her shoulder, breaking the silence and saying, "Code 2400, the intruder is nowhere in sight. Lockdown still in session. Keep all patients secured as much as possible. Watch for any threats that may leave or enter the hospital. Patrol units are tracking down where the intruder may have gone."

The cop grabbed ahold of the radio and spoke into it. "Copy."

Grace stared at Andrew in fear. "I hope they don't get killed."

He walked over to her and smiled at her. "Look, everything will be okay. Let's just try to relax and pray that everything goes well."

"Pray? Andrew, I'm not...religious."

"Well, I'll pray then. I'll even pray for you and Matthew. How does that sound?"

She nervously looked down in her lap. 

"Grace, I promise that everything will turn out alright." Andrew grabbed her hand. "Trust me."

Grace yanked her hand out of his. "Please don't."

"Oh, my bad." He moved his hand away from her. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

The female cop that was hanging out by the door was now near both of them, standing near the hospital bed. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting this moment here, but what did you say about someone getting killed, Miss? Is there someone around town that you know is in the act of any criminal activities?"

Grace grabbed her journal, which was sitting face down next to her, and raised in the air, offering it to the cop. "Read it; it'll explain everything I've been encountering. I don't feel like telling the whole story. Start at the entries at the beginning of this month. The events will lead up to what happened here at the hospital."

The police officer grinned at her and gently took the journal from Grace, and she started to open it up to read it.

"Do I need to flip to the page where it all starts?" Grace asked.

"No, but thank you anyways." The cop seemed frantic to read the journal.

"Look, it may sound all unbelievable, but I guarantee everything I list isn't all in my head. When you get to the part about who has been causing chaos around town, please don't think I'm crazy. I'm in the hospital here because of that culprit, and just ask one of the security guards here; if you meet him, he'll tell you that he saw the same thing before this place went on lockdown."

"Mind telling me his name, if you happen to know by any chance?"

"I don't know it. Sorry."

The female police officer widened her eyes as soon as she stopped flipping through the pages. Reading one of Grace's entries out loud, she paused in some spots, hesitant on how to react after seeing what was written inside.

Grace nervously watched her, thinking if she was going to be called "crazy." Andrew easily saw Grace's anxiety and nodded his head at her, letting her know that he understood how she was feeling.

He suddenly interrupted the cop, standing up in front of her. "I have to bring this up. My father was...murdered by...uh...you know." 

The police officer gave him a blank stare.

"You know the rumor that is currently going around about these...animatronics?"

"It's everywhere, Mister..."

"Andrew. That's my name." He closed his eyes and looked down at the ground. "I was told my father was killed by one of those monsters. You knew Lawrence Nelson by any chance?"

"That guy?" The cop glanced up from the journal. "You say he was murdered by an..."

"Animatronic."

"Yeah..." She looked back at the journal, confused. "Never have I heard about these...animatronics...going around and killing citizens. I'm so used to hearing calls about people killed by...other people."

"Like Grace said, as crazy as it sounds, we're trying to do what's best for this town. Also, look at her." Andrew pointed at Grace. "Do you see that? She is letting her health go down! She has stayed up for three days, and risking her health, to save herself! Not only is she tired and even suffered a seizure from earlier, from what I heard, but she's staying here because of those animatronics, too! She was stabbed by one of them! The intruder that broke in here was an animatronic! You're a police officer! You have to protect us!"

"We'll do what we can, but I think that all of this is nonsense." The cop threw the journal on Grace's bed. "There's your stupid journal with pointless pieces of evidence."

Grace closely watched the cop leave the room, and she mumbled, "Fuck you, too, heartless bitch."

Andrew sighed. "Sorry she had to be that way, but some cops have to be like that, unfortunately. Welcome to America. At least my father never would be a jerk to someone for no reason; he was one of those nicer cops."

"No, he was caring. When I first encountered these animatronics, I rescued Matthew from his home. A cop car happened to spot the both of us, and what do you know? It was your father. He took me back home where Matthew and I could hide out until six AM."

"He did that?"

She smiled at him. "That did happen. Nice guy. I did thank him for the ride he offered."

Andrew also flashed her a smile, though a nervous one, and hesitated. "Hey, I'm going to the cafeteria to get a snack. Not sure if it's open, but I'll go see. I'll be right back."

"No problem. Go ahead."

He kept staring at her for a few seconds, still smiling.

Grace frowned. "What are you staring at?"

Andrew immediately reacted. "Nothing! Nothing! Just...tired."

"Sure. Don't be playing that secret flirting trick on me. I've seen it too many times in the movies." She shook her head at him. "Plus, we're both adults, but I think I'm too young for you, just saying."

"I wasn't pulling that trick!" He chuckled. "Anyways, forget that. I'll be back here soon."

Grace was soon left alone in the room, and one of her thoughts were spoken out loud. "I think you were flirting with me there, Andrew. Don't be lying to me."


	30. Chapter 30

Matthew kept on staring up at Nightmare Freddy, feeling his heart speed up as the animatronic was also looking down at him. Nightmare Freddy let out a soft growl, hovering his head over Matthew's. The child turned his head away to ignore the animatronic. 

"I've told you to let me go!" Matthew yelled. "What have I ever done to you? You have no reason to murder me unless I have upset you!"

Nightmare Freddy chuckled evilly. "I do have a clear reason to kill you off, Matthew. You and Grace have been avoiding me, so I cannot successfully get to you two. Doesn't that make me furious? It does."

"But what about before when you first met me? Have I done anything else to you?"

Nightmare Freddy remained silent and growled once again. "Does not matter. I have my own views on people, and I do have the right to kill them. Stop acting so smart, Matthew, because you are just a dumb, worthless child. There is no doubt that what I am saying is wrong. I am the right one here! I am truthful!"

After hearing the insults, he tried to hold in his tears. "So what if I'm dumb? I know that what you said there about other people makes no sense. What is it about them you hate? I still don't hear a real reason you have the right to murder."

The animatronic bear moved his face closer to Matthew's. "Say one more smart thing like that to me, you will experience you own brutal death! You got that?"

Matthew rolled his eyes in response.

"Now that you finally grew quiet, I won't have to listen to you mouth off to me anymore. It greatly annoys me when people think they are much smarter than I am. I have said that I am the intelligent one here, and I am not incorrect about that at all!" Nightmare Freddy held him down even more. "Listen to me, you stupid child, and do not talk back. I see you are so distressed from dealing with me and my friends, but I will let you get a break from me--me only. I will allow my friends to still play our game with you, but we are not letting you run completely free for tonight. They will get a break from other people and will target you, but I am going to go out on a killing spree and take their places. As for my friends, just be prepared for our game to get harder; there will be an extra friend of ours tomorrow night to come after you when I am not here."

"Uh, what?" Matthew felt his heart continue to race. "Another animatronic is coming to get me? Who is it?"

"That I would not reveal to you. You are best off waiting until that night comes. All I would say is that he may petrify you even more than we do. As a nice note, he has another mouth in his stomach."

"Another mouth? He does...sound scary."

Nightmare Freddy laughed. "Of course he is to you, you baby."

Matthew sighed in anger. "Speak to me like that all you want, but you're wrong when you say things like that! You're just like my brother!"

"Michael, huh? Is that his name? I am letting him live, because what he is doing to you is hilarious. I have never been entertained hearing stories about you being bullied."

"You know...there is nothing wrong with me! The only wrong thing here in this room is you!"

Nightmare Freddy constricted his hand around Matthew's neck. "And what have I said? You want to be torn to bits by me? You are better off staying silent and letting me talk!" 

The child stayed silent, listening to the order he was given.

"Good. As I was going to say, you deserve receiving all the insults and overall hate thrown at you. How the fuck do you say that nothing is wrong with you? You clearly act like a baby, and man, hearing the noise of a child your age having a breakdown like a toddler sounds like absolute torture. How can anyone withstand that?"

"W-Where do you l-learn these c-curse w-words?"

"Glad you asked. I overhear them from other people using these words. I am actually glad to say them, as I feel like I am more powerful and menacing speaking such corrupt and hateful words to humans, even the ones like you who don't really know what they mean."

"My brother has always said those words to me. I may...have an idea what they mean, but I don't want to say."

"Oh, the innocence here is so real." Nightmare Freddy let go of Matthew. "Not cute."

"I don't care if my innocence is cute. I was always told not to say such bad things; it's just not right." Matthew stood up. "And please, don't make fun of me for being a well-behaved boy."

The animatronic walked away from Matthew and moved himself to one of the bedroom doors. "I will make fun of you all I want; aside of killing, that is what my friends and I do. Now, if you will excuse me, I have more important things to do than to talk to a brat like you."

Matthew angrily watched as Nightmare Freddy left the room, leaving the child all by himself to fend off the other animatronics.

* * *

"Please, can I be released today?" Grace begged to a doctor, covering her face in her hands. "You don't know how much is going on outside this hospital that I need to be there for!"

The doctor, that had been keeping an eye on her, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ms. Thompson, you're still in need of care. Allow us to check on your blood level occasionally, and we'll determine when it's safe enough to let you go. We may have attempted to balance your blood level to prevent more damage to your body, but it's still below average. Just to make sure, we'll have to keep you for another three to four days."

"No, that's bullshit! I am old enough to leave, and I do have insurance! Let me sign myself out!" She uncovered her face and stared blankly at him. "Why not keep me with special equipment for my body when I leave? You can do that, can't you? My loved ones are in danger out there, and I need to be there for them! Don't you even know what's going on around this town? It's complete madness!"

He sighed. "I guess we can do that--just have you wear a breathing tube with an oxygen monitor, have a BP monitor attached to you as well, and definitely have medications for you to decrease the risk of any sudden drops in your body. We'll have you wear both monitors for another week or so, and the medications may vary based on what we give you. You've been through surgery, too, so while the post-surgery part may not keep you here for a while, you still need to let your wounds heal. Ms. Thompson, you need to be careful, though. I know what is happening around town--I know the rumor--but I also heard that you've been in the hospital another time for a similar injury to this one. Yes, you may protect your loved ones, but do it with caution, as we don't want to see you back here because of another injury that could cost your life."

"Thank you! Anything I could use outside of the hospital will work, and I promise all what you told me about caring for myself!" Grace frowned. "So, I'll be wearing two things of monitors and carrying them around all the time for a week, followed by a breathing tube? Look, I don't care at this point; I just want to heal."

"Yes, you're right about the monitors and breathing tube, and when the week is up, come back to see a doctor. Refer to me if you see someone else, as I'm the one agreeing to letting you go early."

"What about my IUD? I'm supposed to come back and have that taken out in a couple days. That just means two visits in a short amount of time, I guess."

"Of course, but it is best if we take care of two separate things at different times. Keep wearing your monitors, and whoever you see will take care of your IUD only. You come back again when you're scheduled to see how your blood and oxygen levels are doing. Oh, I forgot to mention; keep a track on your levels throughout each day. I say to keep track and write down what your monitors say every 6 hours. Add in notes if anything happens in between those hours."

She picked up her journal from the table beside her. "I'll just use this in the meantime, I guess."

The doctor eventually told her he would be back and exited the room, leaving Grace by herself. Luckily, two security guards were there outside of the room to keep watch in case any of the Nightmares were to come back and kill her. They both had hung outside the room to let the doctor and Grace have a personal conversation, but they entered as soon as they saw him leave the room.

While it may have been about three hours past midnight, Grace felt as if it has been more than that. Every second felt like a minute. Every minute felt like an hour. Every hour felt like forever. She impatiently waited for the doctor to return to confirm her check-out, and she anxiously took multiple glances at the window. The two security guards standing near her--one by the window and one by the door--made her feel even more uncomfortable, and she tried to say something, but Grace was too stressed and nervous to speak a word.

The thoughts running through her mind consisted of only one thing: the Nightmares. She feared that Matthew could've been dead at that point with her not there at his house to help him, and as she started to doubt if he was alive, Grace soon felt as if she was losing herself. One of the security guards noticed that she uncovered her bed sheets and sat herself on the edge of the bed, standing up and rushing towards the bathroom. He kept a closer eye on her and followed her to see if she was alright.

Grace, leaving the bathroom door open, stared at herself in the mirror. She spotted the security guard looking at her, and she angrily laid her eyes on him.

"The fuck do you want?" she asked. "Get out of my sights, you...creep."

"Look ma'am, I was just seeing if you were okay there," he replied. "Please, no need to be rude."

"Rude? Of course I may sound rude to you. First of all, I had 72 hours of no sleep. Secondly, I had a seizure from no sleep. Last thing, beforehand, I've been scared for my life seeing these...monsters...at night. Wanna know the main reason I'm here, though? I've been stabbed in my upper abdomen by one of these rumored animatronics, so I was given drugs to make me temporarily sleep for surgery. Will I sound irritable to you from all of that dealt with? Yes. Will I be that way after my mind clears up? Maybe. Maybe not."

He raised his hands up in the air. "Whatever your issue is, that fellow doctor recommends you get some sleep, just for the sake of your wellbeing." The guard placed them back at his sides. "How many hours have you got? I think he said you only slept four hours total from your whole stay her; that's not enough."

"Hey, why don't you keep my personal shit between the doctor and I? You don't need to be knowing about my own problems."

He walked away from the bathroom, not saying anything.

"That's what I thought, you douche."

Grace faced herself away from the security guard and kept looking at herself in the mirror, silently questioning whether Matthew was alive or not. She took multiple deep breaths and soon walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm fine," she told the guards. "I just needed to stand up and get a short break, and you--" Grace pointed at the one security guard. "--I am sorry for the way I acted towards you, but like I said, I'm feeling a bit irritable. My mind is just...over the place. I'll try to act better."

"No, I understand, Miss Grace," he said. "I deal with seeing patients act like that towards me whenever I'm watching them being transported. At least you're honest and alert with how you feel, unlike some of the other people I've seen. Most of these people don't even know they're acting outrageous when they're yelling at me and insulting me."

"Can't blame them, though. Wouldn't they have gotten better as time went on? Eventually, I'm sure they would've looked back and realized the way they acted towards you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Depends. Not everyone gets better, you know; some stay mentally sick."

Grace smiled and laughed. "Tell me about it. I'm trying to make myself feel better, but I fear that I'll be forever visiting a mental health counselor. Just look at me now; I'm not as good and sweet as I used to. I feel like I'm more psychotic, and I worry that I'll be this way even when I heal from my injury and sleep deprivation."

"Why are you laughing about it? That's a horrible thing."

"Because I brought this upon myself. I wouldn't be feeling crazy and out of it if I haven't withdrawn from sleep, but I was so fearful of these robotic monsters I've seen that I had to stay awake." She frowned. "I know that sleep messes with your emotional and mental state, but as I said, I probably will be the same way when my body heals. Funny how I'm doing this to myself. I still would have been emotionally unstable with sleep, but I already fucked up and made myself even crazier. What else? Oh, with the mix of paranoia, I definitely am making myself one emotional and insane mess.

"Think about it like this: when I'm extremely tired from three days of no sleep, I am a complete mess. If I had a proper sleeping schedule, I'd still be a bit emotional, but withdrawing from sleep makes me experience twice as many feelings; that's what our minds do, because with no sleep, our brains throw off everything in our bodies, and that makes us deal with issues like my dropping emotional state. Sleep is essential, and when we don't sleep, our bodies make us experience things that are far worse than normal. What if I slept those three days, though? Would not be as emotional as now. Now, combine this sleep withdrawal with a hint of paranoia. Yeah, I'm obviously not well."

"You're quite a smart young lady. Earlier, I heard that you thought you were dumber than usual; I overheard this from a doctor that heard this Andrew guy mention. How are you thinking that? You just revealed your intelligence right in front of me and this other guy." He looked over at the other security guard.

"Why does it matter what you heard about me, you--" Grace immediately stopped and closed her eyes, taking a single breath. "--no, I'm not going to get mad at you, not again! Trying to...fight off this unbalanced mental state I have. I'm so sorry!"

"As said, it's nice that you are alert about your emotional state and are able to control it. Like I've seen before in this hospital, there are tons of crazy patients. Also, Ms. Thompson, you're fine; no need to apologize." The security guard watched as she sat down on the bed. "Now, if you don't mind telling me, I'm not completely sure why this place is on lockdown. Some cop told me you had details on who is causing chaos around town, but she didn't believe you."

"Oh, I know who you're talking about. I hate to say, but that cop was honestly a bitch. Here's my journal that she thought was nonsense." Grace handed her journal to the guard. "If you want to judge me, too, go ahead. I don't care."

"Grace, please stop being so negative. I won't judge you, I promise." He began to silently open up the journal. 

Grace only sighed in response, taking the bed sheets and covering herself up with it. She immediately flipped over on one side and laid there in fear with the sheets over her body, except her whole head was still uncovered. 

Not too long later, Grace asked to walked around the hospital, and after getting approval of a nurse, one of the security guards was then allowed to walk with her to keep watch of her safety. The other guard, though, stayed in the room, reading her journal.

The two mainly walked around the first floor in silence. Despite the loud surrounding sounds of the busy hospital, Grace and the security guard sometimes never found a single word to say to break the quietness between them. If one of them did speak, however, it was only a short sentence.

After the short walk around the first floor, Grace wanted to go outside of the hospital, as she soon grew bored of the interior. The security guard was unsure about whether this was a good idea.

"Grace, we cannot allow anyone outside during this lockdown for any reason, unless they have to leave for good," he told her. "You can wait until you are certified to be checked out."

"Not even for a minute?" she asked. "Not even just standing by the entrance?"

"Let me ask, but I doubt we could let you out." He grabbed the small radio attached to his uniform and spoke into it. "Request to let a patient outside for some fresh air for a single minute. Is it safe to do so?"

A distorted noise came from the radio, and a female voice replied to him. "Right now, we still cannot let anyone leave or enter the hospital, unless for certain reasons, but security will be higher. A fellow cop was just found dead in an isolated area outside of the building. Whatever murdered him had lured him there to be killed without anyone hearing or seeing it. Discovered laying face down on the ground and was found dead with multiple scratches on his body. Parts of his head were cracked open, and a bit of his brain was visible. Stomach and chest were ripped open. Eyes were still in place, but his face appeared as if he was crying blood. Whole body was also covered in blood. The lockdown will also last for a longer time."

Grace covered her mouth, nearly throwing up from the description.

"Alright," the security guard said in distress and shock. "Got that."

"I already know I can't leave." Grace gagged behind her covered mouth. "Can we...go back to the room?"

"Of course." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You need a bag or something?"

"I'm okay. I have a weak stomach when it comes to details like that. Right now, I need to rest." She uncovered her mouth and sighed. "Why isn't anyone stopping this chaos? As if this night was going to be rough, it's just only gotten worse."


	31. Chapter 31

"There you go." Grace placed her hand on the front desk counter and sighed. "Some stuff is paid for, but there still goes like...half my balance in my bank account just on health insurance and hospital bills I'll probably get later on. May I leave now?"

The doctor, who was caring for her, stared at her with concern. "Yes, you have permission to leave, but under all circumstances, patients must always exit in a wheelchair."

"Fuck those kinds of rules! I'm alright leaving by myself!"

"Grace, you need to--"

"I desperately need to go somewhere!" She gripped onto her journal. "Please, just let me exit this place by myself! I'm all good, I swear!"

He buried his face in one of his hands, and he used his other arm to prop up his one arm.

"I know I've been an emotional wreck, and I understand I sound extremely nervous here, but there is something I need to get to, and I definitely should be fretful about it! Please let me leave by myself! This is urgent!"

The doctor uncovered his face and crossed his arms. "Rules are the rules, Grace. We must let you only leave via a wheelchair, no matter what."

She angrily adjusted her breathing tube and the two monitors that were placed in her pockets. "That rule needs to be banished then! I don't care what you tell me; I'm a patient, and there are some things I'm not wrong about! Look, it's almost an hour until six AM, and I called a friend earlier to pick me up and take me to my ex's house to get his little brother that I'm looking after. I'm walking out of that entrance door by myself, and I also have a reason not to waste my time on some stupid wheelchair when I don't even need to ride in one! I have legs that I can use, so no thanks!"

He just watched her in silence as she left the main hospital room and walked towards the entrance. Grace put her right hand on the door and looked back, seeing the doctor and the front desk person staring back at her. She rolled her eyes at them and pushed on the door, soon leaving the hospital and walking into the parking lot.

Grace spotted a Corvette, painted all in black, driving up next to her. The headlights shined on the cement and lit up part of the entire parking lot. The person that happened to drive the car was Andrew, as Grace could easily tell it was him by his appearance, although it was still completely pitch black outside. He also began to speak to her, and Grace could even tell it was him because of this.

Andrew leaned over to the passenger side and opened the door for Grace. "Get in!"

"Shit. Nice car. Must have not been cheap." Grace smiled as she examined the vehicle.

"I thought we were in a rush! We have to go get that Matthew boy, Grace! I'm not sure if he's okay or not, but I drove by there to check up on him! I didn't go inside, but I saw the reflections of some flashlight, or whatever it was! Can safely say he must still be alright, but I don't know!"

"Oh, yeah, yeah. My bad." She quickly sat down in the passenger side and closed the door behind her. "I sure hope he's okay! You should be right! These animatronics better have not gotten to him yet, otherwise I'll be heartbroken!"

As Grace put the seat belt over her, Andrew stepped on the gas pedal of his car, and the vehicle started to rev. He turned the steering wheel to the left side, and the car's back tires spun for a few seconds before it eventually sped out of the parking lot, the engine creating a loud and thundering sound throughout the entire lot. 

With the windows down, Grace felt the cool breeze hit her face as Andrew continued driving down the road away from the hospital, the car's engine still roaring as he hit the gas pedal and went over the speed limit. She set her arm over where the window was, and she nervously looked out the window. 

"Hang on, Grace!" Andrew exclaimed. "This ride may get a bit crazy!"

"Huh?" She glanced over at him.

Right as she laid her eyes on him, Andrew quickly moved the steering wheel towards the side, and the car immediately turned around the corner on another road, causing Grace to desperately hold onto the seat. A nearby car stopped right in time, close to colliding with the Corvette, and the driver honked at them.

"You're reaching almost 100 miles per hour?" Grace yelled over the loud breeze of the wind from the outside. "I'm released from the hospital, and the first thing you'd want to do is nearly give me a heart attack! Yes, I really want to check on Matthew, but this is a bit much for me!"

"I see you're not the racing type!" Andrew laughed and took another sharp turn on a different road. "Look, enough fun already! I care for this boy, like you care about him yourself, so we need to get to his house before he's dead! Let's just hope the cops don't catch us!"

"I thought law enforcement runs in your family! You're really breaking the law, Andrew!"

"Right now, I don't care; we have someone to save from these animatronics! The cops can hardly see a black car when it's pitch darkness outside anyways, so it's like we're camouflaging in a way! They may hear us, but they can't see us!"

He took more sharp turns on certain roads to get to the Afton household. Andrew managed to reach up to 110 miles per hour without a single cop chasing after them. During the reckless, extremely fast ride, Grace kept hanging onto her seat as the car, when taking sharp turns, made her lean from one side to another. 

Meanwhile during the quick ride, she felt her heart race, and at one point, her BP monitor began to beep at her, warning her that her rate was high above average. Grace slowly took it out of her pocket and noticed her rate was, in fact, a bit higher. She sighed and placed it back in her pocket. 

"We're right on the same road where Matthew is! We're not too far!" Andrew proceeded to speed down the road. "Look, too--there are hardly any cars here!"

She watched as he began to turn the car on the opposite side of the road. "Andrew, why?"

"As I said, there are no cars!" He eventually drove up to the house, turned the car towards the side, and parked it, causing it to block both lanes of the road. "You go get him!"

"Why do I need to? You need to come with me, because I don't want you to be killed out here! Are you seriously living in some horror movie world where you think you'll be alright in the darkness out here? Please, just come with me! You would be vulnerable to the Nightmares out here if you stay!"

"If you get him, it would only take not even a minute."

"That's still enough time to be killed."

Andrew pulled on his door lever and opened up the driver's side of the car. "Whatever. Come on."

Before both of them could step out, Nightmare Foxy pressed himself against Grace's side of the car. She screamed and jumped, closing her door and locking it. She rolled up the window as well to prevent Nightmare Foxy from getting her.

"Dammit, Andrew! Do something!" Grace hollered--clutching her hands on Andrew's arm--and heard both monitors beeping loudly and quickly, which she then took one of them out of her pocket and started to shut it off. "Shut the hell up!"

"Oh, they...are real," he whispered to himself in fear, staring at the Foxy counterpart as if he was in a trance.

Without anymore hesitation, and snapping out of his "trance," Andrew closed his door and backed up the car away from the animatronic. He soon pressed on both the gas and brake pedals, turning the car sideways a bit and eventually sped towards Nightmare Foxy. The fox animatronic did not react in time, and Andrew hit him with the car, causing him to be damaged in some parts of his body. Nightmare Foxy slowly got up off the ground, but Andrew continued to hit him with the car.

"You get Matthew! I'll deal with this bastard!" Andrew told Grace.

"Are you sure about that? I hardly know you, but I'm worried about you!"

He reached over and unlocked Grace's door. "Just...go get him. This Foxy fella won't do anything to me if I keep running him over."

"The Nightmares are not dumb, though. If they had to, the others could come after you, as they know that there are many of them and only one of you. I don't know. Maybe they won't target you. Matthew is inside, and I know they are after him, so I guess it is like he's distracting the others in a way. Look, if you stay out here, just be careful! I know they're incredibly strong and fast, so please keep that in mind."

"Well, if they're so strong--as I'm just wondering--do you know who might have killed that cop back at the hospital? Are one of them perhaps stronger than the rest?"

"Think. Who was it that killed your father?"

"This...Nightmare Freddy fella that I heard about." Andrew tried his hardest to keep the tears in. 

Grace quickly opened the car door. "More than likely, it might have been him. I haven't heard of the other Nightmares brutally murdering someone. Seems like Nightmare Freddy is the one that likes to kill people, and when he does...oh, he goes crazy. Again, I hate the fact your father had to be murdered in such a way by the leader--yes, that Freddy bastard is like the leader if he's the toughest and the smartest. Makes sense that he's also probably the only one that talks."

"He enjoys watching people suffer, huh?" Andrew felt himself cry this time. "We're going to show him and his friends better, though! No monster is going to murder my own father, especially someone who has a job to protect people!"

"I'm sorry for what he did to your father; he shouldn't have done that. Now, anyways, hold on while I get Matthew." She stepped out and slammed the door behind her once Andrew stopped the car for a second.

Grace ran past Nightmare Foxy, who was still laying on the ground, and rushed up to the front door, quickly opening the door. She allowed the front door to swing open, and Grace made her way into the house.

"Matthew, are you here?" she called as she searched for a flashlight to use. 

Grace rummaged through all the drawers in the kitchen, but she couldn't find a flashlight anywhere. After looking through only two drawers, she gave up and ran towards Matthew's room.

She stood in the doorway and found Matthew on the opposite side of the room. He was crying and had the left door shut to keep Nightmare Bonnie out. Matthew screamed as the sound of the animatronic bunny pounding on the door suddenly occurred. Matthew jumped back and ran over to Grace.

"You're right!" He hugged her legs. "Why have I always been running off from you? I promise, I won't leave you again! These monsters are getting more aggressive with me!"

"Come on!" Grace grabbed ahold of his hand. "I have a friend waiting for us! He'll take us away from this house."

The two ran out of the bedroom and towards the front door. Grace opened the door back up and allowed Matthew to go outside first. 

In the darkness, Grace noticed that Andrew was still trying to keep Nightmare Foxy down on the ground, as he kept backing up the car and driving it forward. She and Matthew ran over towards the car, and once Andrew stopped the car, Grace opened the passenger door and looked down at Matthew.

"Let me get in first," she told him. "I'll figure out where you can sit afterwards."

Grace sat down in the seat, and Matthew started to get in as well. She advised him that he was best sitting in between her and Andrew, and Matthew climbed over her to sit in the middle.

"There's no seat belt, since this car is a two-seater, but I'll try to share mine with you." She quickly closed the door and started to pull her seat belt over her and Matthew.

"This is a bit...uncomfortable," Matthew said, adjusting himself to fit in the passenger seat as much as he could.

"I know, but this is the only car we have right now." Grace glanced a quick look at Andrew. "Alright, let's get out of here! I don't care what speed you go! Just...step on it!"

Andrew began to pull on the shift to back his car up in reverse. He turned the car around and put it back into "drive" mode, soon speeding away from the house and down the road. The car's engine roared as it quickly raced away. 

Grace looked through the back window as she saw Nightmare Foxy's glowing eyes staring right back at her. The other Nightmares happened to stand beside the Foxy counterpart, but strangely, Nightmare Freddy was not there. 

"Where's Nightmare Freddy?" she asked. "Do you know, by any chance, where he may be, Matthew?"

"He's out right now," he replied nervously. "He told me he would use his friends to come after me while he's out of the house and hunting other people."

"That bastard killed my father!" Andrew angrily yelled and hit one of his hands on the steering wheel. "I swear, he needs to be alive! He better not be dead! His death is just a lie!"

"I wish I was lying. Sorry. I'm really honest when I say that I watched him get murdered. I'm not even joking one bit."

"Fucking--" Andrew exhaled heavily and pounded his hand against the wheel a second time. "This is just nonsense! If these animatronics are not destroyed soon, the other people in my family may be dead next! Hell, I could be the Nightmares' next target!"

Grace felt her heart beat faster. "Andrew, you wrote to the government, remember? Didn't you get that turned in to the post office?"

"After I left the hospital for a bit, yes, but they need to act now! I mean, right now!" Andrew turned on the radio in his car. "Let me see if there are any channels talking about this crazy stuff."

He flipped through multiple channels, and none seemed to have been talking about the incidents around town. A warning message did appear on a channel that played pop music, but it was the same message that Grace heard a night or two ago. 

Not too long after, a song from another channel ended, and a man on the radio started talking about something that made Andrew listen carefully in curiosity. Grace and Matthew listened to it as well.

"That was The Police's latest song, Every Breath You Take," the man said as soon as the last few seconds of the song quit playing. "Now, before we get to the advertisements, there is something that everyone should know."

The trio fell completely silent as the man on the radio said he had something to say.

"There has been a lot of people around the East Providence area disappearing for mysterious reasons," he continued. "But we can conclude that they are being murdered, and their bodies are being dumped somewhere where no one will find them. The rumor going around town is that there are these strange animatronics coming out between the hours of 12 and six AM. Whether the rumor is true or not, please be awake and alert for these vicious animatronics. The police are getting involved on this terrifying event, and as a second thing, the FBI has been getting many requests this past week to investigate this incident around town. The president was able to get many of these requests, and he accepted the idea of sending out federal officers after coming to an agreement with the two Houses. The FBI is expected to arrive by nine later this morning to check out anything that happened the past week. They will also be equipped with special armor and weapons to hunt down these robotic monsters when midnight hits. In the meantime, we suggest you go to a very crowded area. Supposedly, these monsters don't like it when there are so many people around at the same time. Anyways, onto the advertisements."

Grace smiled and sighed in relief. "About time the FBI is coming into this."

Andrew continued to speed on different roads. "Damn right! I'm fed up with all of this! I want those officers to put the Nightmares in their misery! They need to show them pain, like what these other people have been through! Animatronics can't physically feel pain--duh--but these officers better make sure they feel some mental pain! I'm sure the Nightmares can feel fear in some way, and I want to make sure they can feel that!"

She nodded her head at him. "I'm agreeing with you on that, but I'm just wondering--what triggers fear in them?"

Matthew decided to speak up. "The government is one. Back at home, Nightmare Freddy tackled me to the ground, and he was holding me against my will. As he did that, I told him that he would no longer be active, because I mentioned the government will be after him and his friends. I could tell he was scared; his eyes widened at me, and he immediately got angry with me."

Grace glanced a quick, nervous look at him. "What did you say?"

"I said that I told Nightmare Freddy the government was after him and his friends."

"Well, it's nice that you provoked fear in him, but now he knows that federal officers are on the hunt for the four of them. Not sure if he's going to tell his friends and run off with them, but let's hope he doesn't."

"I'm sorry. Did I mean to keep that a secret?"

"Probably would've been best not to say anything."

"I'm sorry," Matthew repeated.

Andrew continued speeding the Corvette down certain roads. "Alright, look, both of you! It doesn't matter that Matthew told Nightmare Freddy; we'll still catch him and his friends! I just know we'll get them destroyed!"

"I hope so," Grace whispered. 

He proceeded to park his sports car in front of a 24/7 mall. Andrew shut off the car and unbuckled his seat belt.

"What are we doing here?" she asked him. 

"I'm not sure if the Nightmares can follow us, but if they can, we'll be a lot safer here," Andrew replied as he stepped out of the car. "I see many people inside, so let's follow what the guy on the radio said and chill out here until six AM. Come on."

Grace soon got out of the car and waited on Matthew to exit it as well. She placed a hand on his shoulder after she closed the door, and the two followed Andrew into the mall.

"Seems pretty busy for a weekday and this time at night," Grace commented as she walked through the entrance. "Maybe some of these people believe in the rumor. If so, they're doing the right thing."

She looked back as two police vans slowly drove through the parking lot, their lights on and sirens rumbling. They both passed by the entrance door to the mall, and Grace noticed they kept looping around the parking lot. Eventually, one of them stopped, and an older policeman got out of the van.

As soon as Grace sat down with Matthew on a nearby bench, the policeman walked through the door, soon glancing around the mall. He grabbed ahold of the radio on his uniform and began to speak into it. Grace couldn't tell what he was saying through the many voices of people in the mall, but she concluded that he was patrolling to see if everyone visiting the place was okay. 

A K9 unit stood next to the officer, sniffing the ground and wagging its tail. The police dog--a German Shepherd--eventually stopped investigating the area of the mall and sat down next to the cop.

The dog soon barked multiple times all of a sudden and ran out the entrance, causing the cop to follow it. Jumpscared by the unexpected loud sounds of the barking, Grace got curious as well and jumped up from the bench, following the policeman. Andrew told her to come back, but she didn't listen. Even a few people surrounding the entrance were interested as well, but they didn't run out the door.

Grace watched as the German Shepherd ran off to the side of the mall. The policeman spoke into his radio, mentioning that he may have found something. Grace still followed the cop, seeing what it was that the K9 unit was after.

After a short minute of chasing a dog and a police officer, Grace was startled once she saw what the dog was chasing down.

She spotted Nightmare Freddy, hiding behind a huge bush. The officer noticed his orange glowing eyes staring back at him, and he even looked at Grace.

The K9 unit continued to bark at the nightmarish bear, and it soon ran towards him.

"No!" Grace yelled, revealing herself to the police officer, and chased after it. "Dammit! Stop your dog!"

She ran her fastest after the dog and fell over on the ground, grabbing ahold of the dog. Her arms wrapped around its body, and she felt herself breathing quickly. The dog was still barking, though she was holding it down. Grace glanced up to see if Nightmare Freddy was still there, but to her surprise, he was gone. 

The cop stared down at her in fear. "Thanks for saving him. Besides, what was that, young lady? What was hiding behind there?"

"You know the rumor that's been circulating around town?" She stood up and allowed the cop to grab the dog. "There was an animatronic there! You saw him like I did, so I needed to save your K9 unit from being killed by that monster! What if I wasn't here by any chance? Your dog would've been dead!"

The officer nervously smiled at her. "Again, thank you for that kind of help. I did not know, because this rumor is still new to me. If that animatronic we saw was, in fact, vicious and killed this helper of ours, I don't know what I could have done."

"Look, there was an animatronic there, like I said! These monsters are really vicious! Can't you alert other officers or something?"

The cop sighed. "Yeah, I would do that. I'm a bit shaken up from what I have seen, too. Now, head back into the mall, young lady. We don't want you out here at this time."

Grace nodded her head and walked away from the officer, silently making her way back into the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I purposely made Grace save the German Shepherd, because in this book, I originally planned out for animals to get hurt as well. But considering that may sound too graphic and disturbing to readers (even to me), any animals (though they are technically "animals," I'm not counting the Nightmares) that make an appearance in this book will all remain unharmed.


	32. Chapter 32

Michael walked into his house after hanging out with his friends. He began to look around each room, searching for Matthew, but there was no sign of his little brother anywhere.

"Fuck! Where are you, you baby?" he called out. "Where have you run off to?"

Michael continued to search around the entire house, but still, there was not a single sign of Matthew anywhere. The older brother shook his head once he was done checking every room. 

"Where is he?"

Despite his hatred for him, Michael began to fear about Matthew, and he desperately wanted to know where his little brother may have run off to. 

Michael picked up the phone in living room and dialed Grace's number. He nervously walked back and forth across the living room, waiting for someone to pick up.

No answer.

Michael dialed the number once again and placed one hand against his forehead. He continued to anxiously pace around the room as he waited for Grace, or even her parents, to pick up.

"Come on, Grace!" 

As he waited for an answer, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from one of the hallways. Michael placed the phone's speaker against his chest, listening closely to the strange sound. He wanted to say something, but he was too stressed to speak a word. 

Michael slowly backed up towards the entrance door and stopped, carrying the phone with him. 

"What the hell is that?" he whispered to himself.

He proceeded to wait impatiently as the odd noise came closer and closer to him. He felt his heart race faster as the metallic footsteps grew even louder, and they sounded as if they were right around the corner of the hallway.

To his surprise, Michael noticed an animatronic bunny staring right back at him. The purple glowing eyes made him curse under his breath in fear, and Michael still couldn't find anything to say, but not too long later, he finally spoke.

"Who the hell...are you?" Michael asked the strange animatronic. "Why are you in my house?"

Nightmare Bonnie just kept his eyes on the older brother. Weirdly enough, he didn't lunge forward to attack Michael or didn't do anything threatening at all; he decided to leave him alone for a reason, as he began to walk away from him.

Michael did not know what was going on. Not only was he stressed about his brother, but he was also terrified of this monster that he's never seen before. Without hesitation, Michael had enough of witnessing the animatronic and ran out the front door with the phone in his hands. 

He heard the sound of someone talking on the phone as he quickly got into his car. Michael immediately placed it up to his ear as he placed his keys in the car to turn on the engine.

"Uh, yes, is anyone there?" Michael asked, shakily turning the keys to the side. "Where's Grace? Is she home?"

He sighed in relief as he realized he was talking to Janice--Grace's mom. She sounded extremely scared herself, just like how Michael was feeling.

"No, she's not," she told him. "I'm not sure where she has gone. I know she was in the hospital, but I called them, and they said she was just released. Grace hasn't come back home, and I don't completely know if she went to a friend's house or what. Sometimes, she enjoys going over to Lauren's or Amber's home, but I checked with their parents not too long ago; she's not at any of their homes."

"Well, I'm searching for someone, too, and that's my little brother. Don't you think I'm a little stressed as well?" Michael sped out of the driveway. "I assume Matthew is probably with her, but I wish I knew where she was."

"Why do you need to know where she is anyways? While in the hospital, she did call me and said she broke up with you, because you treated her like she was nothing. How much of a gentleman are you? You obviously aren't. I'd never let a man treat my daughter like that; no, I would never accept someone who thinks she is worthless. I knew from the beginning that you appeared like you were trouble." Janice sounded as if she was going to cry. "You didn't even go as far as treating her like she was an object, did you? I know those guys exist; it's not like they aren't real."

"What? Grace and I only had sex once at my house weeks ago after her high school graduation party, but I never immediately dumped her shortly afterwards or admitted to her that she's no human to me; I ain't that much of a jerk. Look, Mrs. Thompson, I don't even know why we're talking about this personal stuff. I just desperately need to find my little brother, but I think Grace has him." He paused for a moment. "Do you at least know where she may like to hang out?"

"Why should I even tell you where your brother may be? Grace said you treat him like crap as well."

"Please, I'm worried about him! Can't you give me a chance and tell me where Grace may be?"

Janice sighed. "How can I trust you, young man?"

"How can you trust me? I'm stressed out right now, because I can't find my brother! I haven't been treating him in a way like I'm some bully; I do care about him!"

"My daughter is honest pretty much all the time. I'm sure to believe her when she tells me about your horrible relationship with to your brother."

"Alright, look! I'll find her myself! You obviously don't believe me, but that's all good; I'll just make myself stress more just trying to find Matthew!" 

Michael angrily hung up and blinked a few times as the image of Nightmare Bonnie flashed in his mind. He felt himself grow nervous just from thinking about the animatronic he encountered back at the house. 

Trying to ignore the disturbing picture in his head, he tried to think about where Grace normally liked to go with her friends whenever she was not at home. Michael stopped on the side of the road and got his phone back out, and he began to dial one of Grace's friend's phone numbers, but he eventually thought that he would get yelled at by them, too.

"I don't think she likes to hang out at the park," Michael said to himself. "She's not a huge fan of that place. But considering she was right about these strange animatronics being out right now, I think she'd be inside a building."

He began to think more deeply about various places around town, and one idea came to him.

"She's that mall kind of girl. I think she'd be there, but which one?"

Michael glanced at the clock in his car and saw that it read "5:37 AM." He soon remembered all of the times that each one of the different malls around town opened up.

"The 24/7 mall is the only one open now! She has to be there! Wouldn't hurt to check just in case!"

Michael pressed down on the gas pedal of his car and drove away from the area he was temporarily parked in.

* * *

Andrew sat down next to Grace on the bench, holding a plastic cup with water in it. He held it out towards her, offering her to have it to drink.

"Look, you've been in the hospital and dealt with all this animatronic shit going on," he told her. "You need a break."

Grace grabbed her breathing tube and quickly adjusted it before taking the cup. "Oh, thanks, Andrew. You did not have to spend money on me, though; I could have bought this myself."

"Yes, but you need a break," Andrew repeated.

She shrugged her shoulders and began drinking out of the cup.

Grace watched as her two friends--that she both called over to meet her at the mall--stayed beside the bench. Lauren was drinking a beverage as well, while Amber was being herself and laid on the floor of the mall, singing random lyrics in her original language to her favorite songs and staring off into space. Lauren stared down at her and rolled her eyes.

"Get back up!" she exclaimed. "That floor is probably very dirty, and you're getting that nasty stuff on your clothes!"

Amber snapped out of it and looked back up at her. "I don't care! Can't I just have some fun for myself? Besides, what are we here for anyway? We're not really doing anything, so..."

"Amber Elise D'aramitz!" Lauren slightly kicked her on her back. "I hate to say it, but you're being immature right now!"

"You know that immaturity is what I have, and it's just how I act!" Amber laughed. "Also, you don't need to be kicking me."

"Just get up!"

Grace looked over at the two girls, and she laid her eyes on Amber. "Listen to her, Amber. You are acting like a kid in some way."

Matthew, who was sitting on the far end next to Grace, glanced up at her. "I'd never do that, Grace. It looks embarrassing."

"See, Amber," Grace commented and placed a hand on Matthew's shoulder. "This boy is just six years old, and he is being a mature kid. How old are you? You're 17, so act like it, please."

"Can't I do my own things? I'm bored here!" Amber sighed and rolled over on her back.

"But there's people staring at you; I see them right now." Grace took her eyes off Amber for a second. "How is this not something immature to you at all?"

"I don't care what people think of me! If I want to be the weird girl I am, I'll be glad to act that way!"

Grace giggled in embarrassment. "Yeah, whatever. By the way, as a response to why we are here, we are 'hiding out' from these animatronics roaming around town at night. I found out that they do not really like crowded places, as they prefer killing people where no one else would see them. This place is well lit, too, and they also hate the light."

"Well, I find this fun."

"You find hiding out from vicious animatronic fun?" Lauren asked. "I mean, they may hate the light and crowds of people, but if they could, they can actually try to attack us any moment! Is trying to survive the night from the Nightmares really that exciting to you?"

"No! Just us hanging out here is fun."

"But we are still hiding out from these robotic murderers. I don't know your true definition of 'fun,' but this is not a game to me."

"Hey! Enough!" Grace hollered, causing some nearby people to stare at her. "Just...let Amber do her own things, okay? If she wants to be weird, let her!"

"_Je vous remercie_, **(Eng: Thank you,)** Grace." Amber smiled.

Lauren leaned back against the wall right next to the bench. "So, Grace, when do these animatronics stop for the night?"

"Six AM," Grace replied, staring at a clock in the mall. "It's only 20 minutes till right now. Feels like it's been hours since we got here."

"It's a good thing you called me and Amber. I know about the rumor, but I wouldn't have exactly known what to do to avoid these animatronics. When leaving my house, I told my parents that I just needed to get out for a bit; I'm sure Amber probably told her parents the same thing. Now, because the rumor is all across town, my parents are on their way here." Lauren glanced down at Amber. "Your parents coming, too? You don't want them dead, right? Better not."

"Of course not! My parents can be overprotective and strict, but I love them. Listen, I'm not that much of a psycho."

"You are psycho when you're extremely happy; it's so over-the-top that it scares me."

"_Chatte_!**(Eng: Pussy!)**" Amber stood up off the floor and laughed loudly, enough that others could hear her even from a far distance.

Matthew leaned closer to Grace. "That does sound a bit scary."

"Amber, stop." Grace laid her arm around Matthew. "I get you have a crazy laugh, but don't do that here right now."

Amber immediately fell silent and frowned. "Geez, my bad."

"I'm not trying to put you down or anything, but you do have the mentality of Matthew's age. Funny how you'll be an adult in a year, and Matthew--personality and behavioral wise--has a more mature mental state than you do. Look, I like you, Amber, but you do need to chill sometimes."

"Can't I be happy for once? We are in a terrifying situation here." Amber began to laugh one more time and started to move around in random ways.

"Please...don't do that. Alright, you can...quit your...dancing now...or...don't. Whatever." Grace sighed and laid her eyes on Andrew. "I'm sorry."

Andrew smiled. "I can put up with this. No worries."

Amber stopped her "dancing" and stood in front of Andrew. "Can put up with this foreign chick being crazy and stuff, random-older-dude-that-I-do-not-know?"

"Yes. I find what you do funny and random, actually." He crossed his arms and chuckled. "Off topic question, but you're foreign? You come from France?"

Amber started to swing her arms around at her sides. "Nice that you recognized my language, and yes, I came to America. I mean, wow. You can carry guns in your homes?" She stopped and widened her eyes in shock. "That's extreme."

He shook his head at her while smiling. "Yes, that's what one of our laws are."

"That is crazy, though!" Amber exclaimed and began whistling. "Sorry. Bored."

"No need to apologize." Andrew looked over at Grace. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She took a last sip of her water and shook the cup. "I think I'm out. Where's a trash can?"

Andrew got up from the bench and held his hand out. "Here, I'll take it. I know where a trash can may be."

"Oh...thank you." She allowed him to take the cup from her. "That's kind of you."

He walked away from the group and threw the cup in the nearest trash can. Andrew glanced a quick smile at Grace as he made his way back to where she was sitting, and she happened to grin back at him. 

"Anyways, if you need something else, say something to me." He sat back down on the bench next to her and crossed a leg over his other. "Seriously, if you just want a small snack or anything, I'll buy one for you."

"No, Andrew, I can get something myself if I want to. I appreciate the offer, though." Grace, who was still hugging Matthew with one arm, let go of the child. "I noticed you also had water yourself. Don't like alcohol?"

"Alcohol is the clear definition of getting an unstable mental state; I just don't want to get carried away with a few drinks and get easily angry or whatever alcohol supposedly does to your mental health, according to those TV shows and movies. I used to drink one or two each time I'd visit a bar in my early college days, which was only twice a month, but ever since, I have been staying away from all of those drinks. Even in my free time by myself, I never laid a hand on a glass of alcoholic drinks. Most people think I'm lying when I say I hate alcohol, but drinks like those are disgusting anyways. Alcoholic beverages have sounded, and tasted, more repulsive as I got older; every time I would visit a bar, I have been going less and less as that time went on. Here I am now, talking to you about my hatred for those drinks."

"You know, you're the opposite of my ex. He loved alcohol so much, and I think there was one time I saw that he was completely drunk. He wasn't all temperamental and abusive, like some of those TV show plots with a drunken parent, but he was a bit irritable. Now, this was after I graduated from high school." Grace laughed anxiously. "There was a party his three friends were hosting, and just like you, I stayed away from all the alcoholic drinks that were at that party. I watched him get more and more out of it as he kept drinking out of a beer bottle, and I was there looking at him as if he was crazy. I drove him back to his house--while Matthew was away with his parents somewhere for the night, so it was only us there--and we had some fun on his bed...if you know what I'm talking about, although I never expected us to have some bedroom action; he really wanted to, though, so I played along. It was a nice night, even with our alone time, but the only thing I found uncomfortable was him getting drunk."

Andrew nodded his head at her. "How old was he, if you don't mind me asking?"

"19. He's a little too young to drink."

"I believe in this state, you can drink as long as you have permission from a parent, but I'm not sure if that changed."

"Whatever the case is, if I was a drinker, I would not drink until I'm older when I have matured a bit more. Well, I'm not a drinker anyways, because I hate alcohol, and I will never try it. I've said that before, but people have to accuse me of lying and tell me I'll soon become a drinker. I swear, some people are ignorant. Do they know that they are talking shit to an honest person?"

He patted her shoulder. "Well, we both are against alcoholic drinks. That is something, isn't it?"

Grace nodded her head at him. "It is. Just to say something, too, and I know this may sound weird, but I'm surprised you didn't cringe or something when I mentioned my ex and I having some time to ourselves. Most people I know get weirded out by that stuff."

"I've been told I'm way too laid back. I only get intimidated or angry when something serious happens, like when I heard about the death of my father. Man, I am getting depressed just thinking about him now." Andrew felt Grace lay her hand on his back. "You can tell me personal stuff like that all you want without me feeling weirded out; I don't care, honestly. With you talking about you and your ex doing it, why must I cringe from hearing it? Sex is sex, and almost everyone enjoys it in their lifetime; it's just something almost all of us are born to experience. If you want to talk about that kind of stuff to me, the only thing I care about is if you are comfortable sharing such a topic.

"One example of me being extremely laid back is that I had a female friend in high school who told me she was a lesbian. People in this era can be so grossed out by this stuff, but know what I did? I proved to her that I was not one of those people. My other friends thought something was wrong with me when I supported her. Immediately dumped those assholes and dealt with lots of insults from them to me just to be there for her. I also met her girlfriend, and her partner was a very nice girl. I just wish everyone knew this thing, and that very thing is that...every damn person is loved! People don't get that!"

She smiled at him. "We have known each other for not even a week, and I already could tell you're a selfless, good guy. Seems like you really think about others first. I like that."

"Well, thank you, Grace, for that." Andrew looked down at the ground. "I forgot to mention, too, that I am a huge people person. Working as a 911 operator is stressful, but I still do it; there are so many disturbing calls I get, even the ones that have been occurring lately, that make me want to cry. Hearing people screaming and bursting into tears on the phone is not something that's fun, and very rarely have I gotten calls about shootings with gunfires in the background that make the calls seem more intense. I know I'm a man, as a stereotype of ours is that we're too 'manly' to cry, but I really sympathize with these people being in desperate and terrifying situations, even when I'm not there to help them. I've received calls about suicide attempts, life threatening diseases, and all that scary stuff. Now that I think about this, and with my father gone, I want to step up and physically help these people out by becoming a police officer."

"Sorry you have to go through all of that." Grace felt herself almost crying. "I think you'd make a badass cop, personally. If you want to, go ahead and target for that."

"I'm really considering it at this point."

Not too long later after their conversation, the sound of screaming from people rang out from the other end of the mall. The group all glanced towards the direction of the noise and spotted some people running to the entrance. Other citizens who were already near the entrance door were confused and watched all of the people running. A couple of cops patrolling the building looked at every one of them and quickly ran towards the end of the mall to check out what was happening.

"What's going on?" Matthew asked, glancing up at Grace.

"I don't know." She looked back down at him.

"It's obviously not a good sign if people are screaming." Amber stood in front of the group. "But what the hell are they screaming about? That's what I would like to know."

"It must be something that--wait, is that gas I smell? I see smoke, too. Oh no! Shit, run!" Grace hollered and picked up Matthew, starting to run away.

"What is it?" Lauren asked. 

"I know what is going to happen, but just...run!" 

Without hesitation, all of them ran out of the front door of the mall. Right as every one of them left the building, it suddenly blew up into flames. Lauren was way behind the group, and some of the flames caught onto her. She fell on the ground and screamed in pain from a huge burn mark that appeared on her leg.

"Lauren!" Grace hollered and set down Matthew.

Andrew ran forward towards her and soon picked her up bridal style, feeling the effects of the huge fire in the building, but he continued to get her. He coughed from the smoke surrounding it and quickly carried Lauren back to the rest of the group. 

He carefully laid her on the grass outside of the parking lot and coughed more from inhaling some of the smoke. Lauren began to cry from the pain.

"Lauren!" Amber crouched next to her. "Oh my God!"

"Relax, it's...just a burn," Lauren replied with a hoarse voice. "I'll be...fine."

"But you're hurt!"

"I said I'll be fine!"

"Settle down!" Andrew yelled at them. "Let's just worry about helping Lauren--" He coughed violently. "--and maybe myself, but Lauren definitely needs all of the help. Let me get an operator on the line."

"What about the cops here?" Grace stared at the burning mall and suddenly cried. "Wait, I don't think...those two cops I saw made it."

Confused as to what caused the explosion, she kept glancing around the mall. People who did make it out in time were staring at the building in shock, too, and they were crying as well. Some were lying on the ground, injured and almost appearing as if they were dead. Grace, however, did see a few motionless bodies, and this made her heart and breathing rate speed up; even her two monitors attached to her were warning her.

A police officer, who happened to survive the sudden event, spoke through his radio about the incident. He kept pacing around the parking lot nervously, demanding that he needed almost all emergency services right away.

As she kept looking around, Grace felt her heart skip a beat as she noticed something in the darkness away from the mall.

All four of the Nightmares were standing there, their glowing eyes all back on her. A voice from Nightmare Freddy rang out in her head. She was unsure about whether the others could hear his voice or not.

"You deserved being trapped in that building," he whispered. "But I see we have failed to kill you and all these other people. Aside from these pathetic citizens, we are not done with you just yet. Knowing that you and Matthew will just keep avoiding me and my friends, I guess we are going to play rough with you. This fire is a start to this new game we will play with you and that childish brat you love so much."


	33. Chapter 33

"You alright there, Grace?" Andrew walked up to Grace and stood in front of her. "What are you looking at?"

She noticed that the Nightmares disappeared once Andrew got closer to her. All of their glowing eyes had suddenly vanished as she kept staring at them.

Grace laid her eyes back on him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just saw the Nightmares."

"The animatronics were here? Do you think they caused this chaos?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did. They used to murder people without anyone knowing, but now that the news about them is public, they are probably thinking, 'What's the point of trying to hide ourselves?' Then, they now are really making themselves public. Besides, if they caused this fire, how exactly do animatronics start a fire?"

"They are like us, Grace," Andrew said. "They could've gotten their hands on something to trigger a fire, like what any person could actually do; I mean, they can obviously do other things with their hands instead of just stabbing people. At this point, I'm starting to think they all somehow got access to a gas substance and set off a fire in some way with that. I'm not too sure how they did it, but I heard that these bastards are intelligent--probably smarter than us--so they must have been extremely smart about how they set off the fire."

"All of them are smart, but Nightmare Freddy is the literal Einstein of the group; he's the smartest and the only problem solver out of all of them. I also wouldn't be surprised if he planned out this whole thing." Grace raised her voice as the sound of firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars all raced towards the mall. "Just think about it--the chances of an explosion because of other reasons are extremely low! If the Nightmares did not do this, the mall would still be standing, but of course, they had to come in and start something! That's why I say that it's no surprise if they caused this fire!"

He saw as she stared back in the same direction as where she looked before. Grace started to cry, and without saying anything, Andrew wrapped his arms around her. She kept her arms at her sides, letting him hug her, but she eventually wrapped her arms around him and cried into one of his shoulders. 

"Can't they just leave us and these other people alone?" Grace asked through tears. "Why do the Nightmares have such a huge hatred towards us? What have we done to them?"

"Nothing. It is their fault for attempting to kill us! We have not done shit to them at all!" He placed a hand on her head and whispered in her ear. "We'll be fine, Grace. These monsters will be destroyed soon."

"You better be right." She took his arms off his body and walked away from him, covering her face. "I can't handle this stuff anymore! It's crazy!"

Andrew placed his hands on his hips. "Grace, I can't handle this either! My own father is dead because of these animatronics! I think I'm a bit pissed off myself at them. Look, we're actually both frustrated with this! Let's just try to get these bastards destroyed, and we'll be all good!"

After what felt like a few minutes, Andrew glanced over at the main road in front of the burning mall. A couple vans with their sirens on pulled into the parking lot, and as they drove closer to the building, he was able to tell what was written on the side of each of the vans.

"Grace!" he exclaimed and pointed at one of the vans. "Looks like there are some federal officers already here!"

"Um, who are you talking about exactly? Is it the FBI or what?" She turned towards the direction he was pointing in. "Oh, that is the SWAT team. I thought the actual FBI would be here, but I guess their SWAT officers are good enough; they'll do for now."

The vans slowly came to a stop, and some officers quickly jumped out of the vehicles. One of the drivers walked up to Grace, and she kept her eyes on him as he silently stared at her, too, with a loaded assault rifle in his hands.

"Is...is there something you need, sir?" She walked closer to him, feeling a mix of fear and relief just from seeing him and the other officers.

The one officer looked back at the burning mall and then back at her. "We were called out here after the government held an urgent meeting about this incident happening around this small city, but the president asked no more questions and said we should go ahead and travel here. There was something about these animatronics on the loose, am I right? We have other SWAT teams in other areas of this town, as they need to search for these mysterious animatronics. Was the local law enforcement not capable of catching these robots? Well, it's a good thing the citizens called into the government and let us federal officers do the job. Like local or state law enforcements, our job is to protect the public, but the only difference is that we are heavily equipped with special weapons."

"Don't you have armor, too? These animatronics have extremely sharp claws and teeth. I just don't want you and the other officers getting murdered by them."

"How sharp are we talking, ma'am?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "They're both probably as sharp as razor blades, but I know for a fact that their teeth and claws are enough to puncture multiple layers of skin. I was stabbed in two places--near my foot and on my upper abdomen. My ankle injury still hurts a bit, but my stomach one hurts a lot."

The officer held his gun at his side. "I do not completely know every detail about what has been going on, except the fact that people have been disappearing. Do you happen to have more information on these animatronics?"

Grace held up her journal. "Here. I wrote about my experiences with them."

He placed the gun on the ground and flipped pages through her journal.

"You may want to start reading a few pages in. Also, there are pages where I sketched what the animatronics look like. The pictures aren't the best, because I'm no artist, but I tried putting detail into my drawings. There are bits of information about the animatronics, too, on those pages, like how one of them can talk to us and the others are probably mute or are just not programmed to speak."

The SWAT officer soon widened his eyes. "May we use these sketches of your drawings? It may help both the FBI and us a bit."

Grace smiled. "Go ahead. Just tear them out, because I want to keep my journal."

"No problem, Miss." He carefully ripped out a few pages from her journal. "I may want to at least list other things about them that you wrote not included in your sketches. If the animatronics have certain behaviors, we can learn that, and that may help us hunt them down based on those behaviors."

"They do have three things--strength, stealth, and speed. Be prepared for animatronics that are twice as strong, quick, and sneaky as you; that's just how they act."

"You know, just little details like this greatly help us with huge situations like these." The officer took out a pen. "I found some other details about them in your journal. Mind if I write notes next to your sketches?"

"I don't care. Go ahead. I won't need the drawings back anyways."

"You sure? Those drawings look pretty detailed."

"Yes."

"Just as another thing, we may photocopy these and send those copies back to the president and Houses. At least they can get an idea what you're currently dealing with here. Even just from looking at these, the president may decide if he wants to go as far as getting the military involved. We don't have to do all of that if you don't want us to; these are your drawings after all."

"Do whatever you want. As said, I don't care."

As the officer kept going through her journal, Grace was introduced by a paramedic. She noticed that the paramedic offered her to wear a mask.

"What's this for?" she asked him, taking it from him. 

"There's smoke surrounding this whole place, and we are making sure everyone is wearing one to prevent inhaling the smoke," he explained. "Seeing you have a breathing tube in, it's still best if you wear a mask, and as a note, your one friend here took in too much of it. He may have to visit the hospital."

Grace stared down and saw Andrew breathing heavily and coughing behind a breathing mask, with another paramedic sitting next to him and functioning the special mask. "Andrew, you going to be okay?"

Andrew stayed silent and gave her a thumbs-up. 

"Hey, Miss," the officer said.

Grace looked back at the SWAT officer, seeing that he was done with her journal. "Oh, sorry. Thank you."

The officer grinned and picked up his gun, soon walking away from Grace.

She laid her journal underneath her arm and leaned down next to Lauren, who was still receiving special care from paramedics. Lauren had her head placed on Amber's sweater, as Amber thought she appeared uncomfortable laying on the grass.

Grace stared at Amber. "The hell are you doing wearing a sweater in the summer?"

Amber laughed at her. "Well, I sometimes see you wear long sleeve shirts."

"Yeah, but those shirts are baggy and very thin in layers. That looks like something you wear around the wintertime."

"Look, if I love to wear it, I'll wear it whenever I want. Besides, with us being close to the Atlantic Ocean, it does get cold here."

Grace smirked at her. "Alright. You do you, but I feel fine when I wear my clothes."

Lauren was soon put on a stretcher and was moved into the back of an ambulance. The rest of the group watched in silence as she was taken away from them. Amber's sweater, that she offered to Lauren, was given back to her after Lauren was taken away.

Andrew was still receiving care, but while he had inhaled smoke, he found his breathing to balance back out. The paramedic caring for him advised him that he may still have to go to the hospital. 

Andrew set the breathing mask down. "I really need to go?"

The paramedic nodded his head at him. "We aren't sure how much you exactly inhaled, but it's best to be safe and transport you anyways."

Andrew sighed and stood up off the ground. "Fine. I feel okay, but maybe I really am not."

"Here, keep the mask on. We'll just have you ride in the back of the ambulance."

Andrew nodded his head and followed the paramedic's instructions.

"Hey, I'll meet you and Lauren at the hospital!" Grace yelled. "Looks like you two are going to the same place!"

He just gave her a huge smile in response. 

After what felt like a lifetime, a clock--which was unaffected by the fire--attached to a post in the parking lot struck six. Grace sighed in relief, knowing that the Nightmares were done for the night. 

A car soon sped in the parking lot, stopping next to Grace, Amber, and Matthew. The vehicle looked familiar to Grace, and once she realized who it belonged to, she immediately turned her back towards it. 

Michael quickly got out of the car and ran towards Grace. "Grace, what happened here? Are you alright?"

She never answered and kept facing away from him every time he'd stand in front of her.

"Just look at me and answer me, please! I know we're over, but I wanted to see if you're okay! Can I at least check up on you?"

No answer.

"Leave her alone!" Amber stepped in front of Grace and stood close to him. "If she doesn't want to talk, leave her be, you jerk!"

"I just asked one question! One question, and that is all I'll ask!"

Amber shoved him back. "Doesn't matter! Fuck off!"

Michael walked around Amber and reached out to touch Grace's shoulder. "Grace, can you tell this bitch with an accent to stop blocking my way?"

"Excuse me?" Amber grabbed his arm and pushed him back once again. "Speak to me like that again! Do it! You'll only regret what I would do to you if you still talk like that!"

Grace walked up to Michael and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to clutch it with his hands and collapse on the ground. "You do not talk that way to my friend! Now, leave!"

Michael did not refuse to give up and tried once again to get close to Grace. "Can you just answer my question? I'm concerned for you."

"Lies!" Amber shoved him again, but she did so more forcefully this time. "You're a complete liar, Michael!"

He stood back up after falling backwards and pushed Amber back. "You need to stop getting in my way!"

"I have the right to, douche! She's my friend!" Amber formed a fist and punched him in the face. "Try and get past me then! You'll only get hurt more!"

After a brief moment of the two shoving each other backwards or punching each other, the small fight turned into a big one. Grace yelled constantly at them to try and break up the fight, but she failed. She eventually attempted to jump in and break them apart, but she once again failed.

Amber was on top of Michael on the ground, punching him nonstop, as he was trying to do the same back, but she kept him from touching her by holding his arms down. They soon stood up after Michael broke his arms free, and Amber was using both hands to pull on his hair and her legs to kick him, while yelling and cursing at him. Michael was tugging on her shirt--almost pulling it off--and pulling her hair as well, also insulting her. After a long minute, Amber tackled Michael back to the ground and continued to punch him more. He tried to punch her back, but she blocked him by using both of her arms, while still trying to hit him at the same time. The fight began to attract some attention from other people, and some younger people--such as teenagers--happened to encourage Amber's and Michael's fight. A small crowd began to form around them while the fight went on. Even some people from the crowd tried to stop them. 

A nearby SWAT officer saw the two fighting and ran over to them. He dropped his weapon, trying to get through the crowd, and successfully pulled both Michael and Amber off of each other.

"Enough--both of you!" he yelled at them, standing in between them. 

Amber ignored him. "You stay away from Grace! If she doesn't want you to be near her, then you back off!"

"Fine! Whatever, you bitch!" Michael began to walk away. 

"You fucking--" She lunged towards Michael, but the officer pushed her back. "Stop calling me that, you asshole! You deserve to die in hell!"

"Enough!" the officer repeated. 

"Yell at that bastard, not me! He's the one practically harassing his ex-girlfriend; he just won't leave her alone!" She looked over back at Michael. "Sucks that an older brother who bullies his own little sibling has to bully his girlfriend, too! What a shame that you're breathing and walking around in this world! You don't even need to exist!"

Michael began to run from the crowd as soon as Amber mentioned him being a bully.

"Yeah, you better run! Pussy!" Amber yanked her arms out of the officer's and walked back towards Grace.

The crowd began to break up, but some others that enjoyed the fight stayed and began to suddenly clap at Amber. Those other people eventually left after a few seconds of standing in place.

"I'm so sorry, Grace," Amber said, sighing. "I just lost my cool there."

"I never seen you act like that," Grace told her. "I think the most violent ones in this group are probably me and Andrew, but I guess you apply. Well, thanks for protecting me with that...fight."

She smiled, not saying anything, and hugged Grace. Grace wrapped her arms back around Amber.

"Man, what a fight," an unfamiliar voice commented. "That red head chick really showed him who was boss. Why didn't she kill him? Whatever. Enough. What exactly caused it? I did not hear everything."

Grace stopped hugging Amber and turned around to see a young woman walking towards them. She appeared to have long, black hair; it was slightly curled and was tucked behind her ears with some strands hiding in the back, while other strands were in the front. She had a white crop top, dark blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and sneakers all on her body. A leather choker was wrapped around her neck. Hearing aids were easily visible in her ears.

"Uh, who...are you?" Grace asked. 

The woman stayed silent, watching Grace speak, but she eventually laughed. "I'm sorry. I've been deaf my entire life, and these hearing aids do not work at all. Wait--" She adjusted her aids. "--speak again. I think they're working."

"I asked who you were."

The woman walked closer to Grace. "The name's Sofia. You seem kind of familiar to me. Seeing that Michael was there with you just now, is your name Grace? We randomly met while he was in town and told me all about you, saying that he thought you were a bitchy attention seeker or something. Started to strangle him to near death, because I learned about him, and there was no way you are that girl who cries for attention."

"Wait, what?"

"I know this is all sudden, but I truly know that guy, and yes, I really did place my hand around his neck and choked him that one time. After finding out he was a jerk about how he treated you, I strangled him and threatened him that I'd continue to do it if he didn't give me your number. He called me a 'psycho,' but oh, I get that kind of stuff a lot, aside of me being called 'bipolar' and other insults; it's nothing new to me. Does me scratching a corner of a piece of glass on my old boyfriend's car count as being 'psycho', too? I just wrote that I missed him. Anyways, Michael did give me your number, but I didn't call you at all. I happened to come across his car while I was near the mall, and I followed him. I'm now surprised that you're here; I have always wanted to meet you."

"You sound a bit creepy, Sofia. You said that you threatened my ex by strangling him to 'near death' just to get my phone number? You also followed him here? As much as I hate Michael, I wouldn't do that stuff."

"That's how I live." Sofia nervously giggled. "Others tell me I'm a bit crazy, but they're speaking lies. I'm just living my life. Oh, I realized--did you call Michael your 'ex?'"

"Yes, we're through. Now, you could have killed Michael when you strangled him that one time. Again, as much as I really hate him, I wouldn't go as far as almost murdering him."

"That so?" Sofia took a pocket knife out and began to flip it around in her hand and between her fingers. "All of us have at least some death wish in our lives. Ever wished Michael was dead? I know I have. Well, I had many death wishes in my life--too many to count."

Grace swallowed anxiously. "Please don't swing your knife around like that."

"My bad." Sofia quickly put her knife back in her pocket. "I get bored easily."

Silence fell between the two girls, but Sofia began to speak up once again.

"Anyways, you okay? I noticed that there has been this fire going on." She stared back at the mall. "Must be a shame with the lives lost. I may be a bit crazy, as what others say, but I do still have sympathy."

"Sympathy? How is that a thing for you? You choked my ex to near death!"

"That's because he deserved it." Sofia glanced back at Grace, smiling. "The jerk gave me some stupid sob story that I never believed; he made me think he was the victim and you were the bad person! Sorry, but I do not feel for douchebags like him."

"You still strangled him."

"So?" Sofia frowned and looked at Grace with confusion. "He's gotta learn."

"I think it'd be more appropriate to let him learn a different way."

"Look, I don't care. If I wanted to, my death wish to him can become real, but I am not going to do anything to him."

Grace crossed her arms, staring at her closely. "Right. But just lay off the death wishes and other creepy stuff, Sofia; you are kind of scaring me."

"Why be terrified of me? If you need an extra person in your group, I'll be a great teammate to help get rid of the Nightmares. Either you can deal with me, or you'll lack a cooperative group member that will actually go as far as physically taking on these animatronics. What's it gonna be?"


	34. Chapter 34

Grace stared closely at Sofia, unsure what to say. She sighed and took a few steps back from her. 

"What's your answer then?" Sofia grabbed her knife back out of her pocket and swung it around more. "You won't regret having me help you."

"You do things I find creepy," Grace told her. "Who even follows a random guy they hardly know, writes on their ex's car, and has tons and tons of death wishes that you wish could actually happen...by you? Judging by your outfit, too, you do a lot more than those things."

"Maybe I don't do anything else. What's my outfit got to do with my everyday life?"

"I mean, you look like one of those people from the movies who would kill their partner in their sleep or something. Those people normally dress like they are the most badass and evil people ever."

"This is reality, Grace," Sofia said and twirled her knife between her fingers again. "We're not in some action or horror movie, okay? Everything happening around town sounds like a plot to one of those movies, but this is real life! Just as a fun fact, though, I'm not as insane as these animatronics. If you really want to compare me to them, they're definitely on top of the insanity list. You could talk about what they're doing wrong, and they will never, and I mean never, feel sorry. I still have empathy for people; I just hardly show it, because most people get on my nerves. When I do something wrong, I am more likely to apologize in a situation than the animatronics. If they somehow say they're sorry, my apologies would be more real than theirs, so please don't think I'm a total psycho, because I can be nice and calm when I can. Well, I guess that depends on who I talk to."

"That's literally the definition of being insane. You think it's an insult, but I think you may actually have a mental disorder. Not trying to be rude to you, but I am helping you. If you act psychotic to some people, but you also act like you are normal towards others, I do truly think there's something up with your mental state. Don't target me for being mean, because I can admit that I'm not mentally well myself either. We're both sick, okay? I just think you need to see someone who can help, like what I need to do."

Sofia laughed. "Why do I need to seek help if I am completely normal? Can't I just live my life, please, Grace? My business isn't any of yours."

Grace glanced over at Amber, confused, and turned back towards Sofia. "You practically said that you knew you were mentally unstable. Now, you say you feel normal? What? I'm confused."

"I don't know what you mean. I'm sorry. I never said such a thing, honestly."

Grace crossed her arms, concerned and still puzzled. "You know what? Forget what I said. Do you really want to help us with the Nightmares or not?"

"That's all on you. Do you want me to help?"

"We could use an extra person."

"Then I'm in. Just so you know, too, I really can try to take on the Nightmares physically. I won't hesitate to attack them without any special weapons."

"That sounds risky, Sofia. Are you sure?" Grace frowned, remembering how she wanted to face the animatronics like that herself. "Look, that method is just too dangerous. I'd say we leave it to the SWAT team, while we try to hunt down the Nightmares to help those SWAT officers get to them. I'm not too sure if the officers want to meet with us or something, since we do know about the animatronics."

Amber stood beside her. "They'll only tag in if we say something to them."

Grace ignored her. "Well, wait--I gave my journal to that one officer. He may want us to meet with him, so we could help track down the Nightmares, and then the officers can do their job to go after the animatronics. I mean, I do know their behavior and stuff. How about we meet with a SWAT officer real quick, and after that, we'll go meet my two friends at the hospital?"

Amber repeatedly tapped her shoulder. "Grace! Grace! Grace!"

"What?" Grace looked over at her.

"What about our parents? I called mine to meet me here, and they'll be here soon." She glanced back at the entrance to the parking lot and saw a car pulling in. "Oh, that's them!"

Grace watched as Amber ran away, and she laid her eyes back on Sofia. "I don't think my parents are coming. They probably don't know where I am."

Sofia kept playing with her knife. "My parents don't give a fuck where I am at. They did when I was living in a mental hospital around the age of eight, but even today, they still call me 'crazy.' They probably don't seem to care for me if they'll kept insulting me like that."

Grace remained silent.

A few seconds later, Sofia bursted into tears, but her crying soon turned into laughter with tears still running down her face. "What kind of lies are they telling me? I'm not crazy!"

"Right." Grace stared at her with suspicion.

"Now, I just feel worthless and--alright, alright! We must talk about the Nightmares! Shit, I remembered that!"

"Are you okay?" Grace crossed her arms.

"Yeah, why?" Sofia nervously wiped her tears and began to speak quickly. "Do I have something in my eyes? I must have!"

"Sofia, your eyes are fine." Grace grabbed her shoulders and looked closely in her eyes. "You're not okay; you are very sick. Do not tell me nothing is wrong with you. I'm no medical expert, but it seems like you have some bipolar episodes going on here, or maybe you have some psychotic disorder. Again, don't tell me that I am being rude to you, because I'm trying to check on you. Being both a nice and insane person at two different times, plus switching moods quickly, does not sound normal. Also, your parents do care for you. You mentioned you were in a mental hospital? If your parents never cared for you, you never would've been at that hospital."

"I'm okay!" Sofia smiled at Grace and took her hands off her. "Please don't bother me about that stuff anymore. I just want to get these Nightmares destroyed before they kill anyone else. Oh, but I wish they'd kill Michael. The fucking asshole deserves it."

Grace stayed quiet again.

"Let's go, yeah?" Sofia put her knife away and clapped her hands. "Let's get these bastards! I'm ready!"

As she ran away to talk to a SWAT officer, Grace shook her head with concern, noticing that her new acquaintance was switching moods every few seconds. At first, Sofa was feeling uplifted, then down, and then back to a good mood again, and Grace did not think she was faking it.

* * * 

Michael slammed his car door shut after parking his vehicle in a restaurant parking lot. His three best friends decided to meet up with him, and once they saw him, they immediately were fearful just from looking at him.

"You look terrible, dude!" Joshua rushed up to him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Michael angrily walked towards the closed restaurant's door and kicked it. "I just got in a fight with some French bitch!"

"Oh, a French chick? I like foreign girls. Is she hot?" Noah flashed a big smile at Michael.

"She's average, but I know you don't like girls like her, Noah. You despise foreign women, you jerk."

"Of course I love them! I love them as much as American women!"

"Oh, shut up." Michael groaned and leaned against the door. "You're a liar."

"I definitely am not!" Noah exclaimed and walked up towards him. "How come you think I'm a liar?"

Michael remained silent, unsure how to respond. 

"Exactly!"

Ethan started to budge into the conversation. "Excuse me, but what did happen? What caused this fight?"

"I was trying to get towards Grace, as I wanted to see if she was alright after some mall blew up in flames--and she was there--but her idiot French friend blocked my way," Michael replied. "Both of us got into a fight--a real one. We attracted lots of attention from nearby people."

His one friend was shocked by the news about the mall. "Did Grace want to see you, though?"

"No, she didn't. Why do you want to know?"

"You shouldn't have pressured her and her friends like that. Now I see why you and this one girl got into a fight; she was defending her friend."

"Stop playing 'good guy' on me, Ethan; I'm getting tired of it." Michael rolled his eyes. "I deserved seeing Grace, and this friend of hers is at fault for not letting me see her."

"You're at fault for triggering a fight, and yes, I know I'm a good guy. Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

"You know, you're too nice to women--way too nice. Lay off the over-the-top kindness shit, okay?"

"Says the dude who secretly insulted his ex-girlfriend when hanging out with me. Yeah, I think there's a reason I should treat girls differently than you do."

"Whatever!" Michael laid the back of his his head against the door. "It's over with!"

Joshua moved himself next to his friend. "Aside of that fight, you also look as if you saw a ghost or something. What's up?"

"Isn't that what people always say when they see me in shock?" Michael asked and sighed. "Anyways, I just saw something when at home. I was looking for my little brother, but he wasn't anywhere in my sight. Eventually, I noticed this...animatronic in my house. Now, before you say I'm crazy, I really saw it--"

"You're crazy," Ethan interrupted. 

"Dude, I am not! The animatronics going around town are real--"

"Crazy!" Ethan pointed at Michael. 

"Alright, you're just messing with me now, right?"

His best friend never said anything and just laughed.

"Look, I am serious when I say that I saw an animatronic in my own house today! I might have not believed Grace all this time, but I do now! I couldn't get the image of this animatronic rabbit out of my mind after encountering him, and I'm still thinking about him; he is that terrifying!"

"Quit tripping, man!" Noah patted Michael's back. "I think you've been drinking too much, haven't you?"

"I haven't had one sip of alcohol tonight. I promise fully that I never even touched a single bottle."

"Sure about that?"

"I'm definitely sure, Noah. I have been trying to withdraw from alcohol lately, especially after I broke up with Grace. I have seen all those TV shows of guys getting drunk after a breakup, and they maybe also get themselves into a one night stand. No, not doing any of that."

"That's the first thing I heard you say in a long time that isn't something that would get you into trouble," Ethan said. "Good for you."

Michael stepped away from the building. "Anyways, you all may not believe me, but now that I have seen an animatronic for myself, things are feeling quite different for me. I just feel like I have to be there to protect everyone I love, even you guys; all of you are like brothers to me."

"At least you don't bully us." 

Michael stared at his friend, blinking a few times in silence.

"Just saying." Ethan shrugged his shoulders.

"What?" Joshua asked, confused. 

"Nothing, Joshua." Ethan smiled at him.

After a moment of quietness between the four friends, a few SWAT vans sped by, making all of them stare at the vehicles in interest. Only one van happened to pull off to the side of the road once the driver spotted the boys, and he quickly got out of the van. With a gun loaded, he walked up to them.

"Hello there," Michael told the SWAT officer, stepping forward. "What do you want?"

"Good early morning, gentlemen," the officer greeted. "Do you all have a minute to answer a question?"

"Of course."

"Ha! 'Gentleman!'" Ethan whispered, laughing softly. "You are so not one, Michael!"

The officer grabbed some pieces of paper from his uniform pocket and held them up to Michael, and he took them from the officer. "Have you seen any of these animatronics? They are rumored to be running around town between the hours of 12 and six AM. Local and state law enforcements are unable to take them down, so we were called in to help. If you happen to see any of these robots, please tell me where you saw them and what they were doing."

"This one." Michael placed the picture of Nightmare Bonnie on top of the other drawings and showed it to the officer. "He was in my own house. I happened to run across him when looking for my little brother, and I'd thought the bastard would attack me or something, but he left me alone.

"By the way, who drew these? These are some detailed drawings." Michael looked through every sketch of the animatronics.

"Some young woman who I came across at the one mall," the officer told him. "This lady with a blonde pixie cut happened to give me these drawings. We are thinking about sending them to the president, so he has an idea of what we're going after. Any photocopied versions we make will be printed through newspapers, but the raw drawings will be sent away."

"Blonde girl with a pixie cut? Sounds like my ex. Did she happen to give you her name?"

"Not at all. Who was she?"

"Her name was Grace," Michael replied. "She was my ex, and she always was obsessed with these supposedly real animatronics that I thought were fake, but considering I've encountered one myself, I do believe her now."

"Do you know how long she has known about these animatronics?"

"I'm not sure, but she started talking about them not too long ago when we were dating. Knowing that she has full sketches of them with their names and some detailed information about them, followed by how the horrible condition she's been in lately, I now know something was up."

"You're full of bullshit!" Ethan called. "You've been acting oblivious and uncaring all this time until now! Should've listened to her beforehand! Even if you didn't believe her, you should have at least showed you cared to listen what she had to say! You heard about when she was in the hospital? How else would a perfectly healthy young woman end up in the hospital for? You heard she refused to sleep and had a seizure from no sleep, right? Why would she not sleep at all suddenly? It's obvious that something was getting to her, but no! You never intended to care!"

Michael glanced back at him, staring at him angrily. "You take that back!"

"I'm just being honest, man."

The officer sighed and took back the drawings. "Anyways, thanks for the bit of information. We will be on the hunt for these animatronics, take them down, and hopefully find whoever built them. If we find that person, more than likely they may be in prison for life or may be put on death row. We'll see what happens."

"Put that motherfucker on death row!" Noah hollered. "Why are you going to put someone in prison for life when they had these...machines kill tons and tons of people?"

The officer never replied to him and walked away from the group of boys.

Michael turned back to look at his friends. "Well, now that's out of the way--"

"You're best off staying away from Grace," Ethan told him and crossed his arms. "What you did earlier wasn't right."

"Ethan, she's my ex. I can do what I--"

"No!" Ethan interrupted. "You go near her, and you're fucking dead, man! You got that?"

Michael blinked quickly at him. "Woah. Okay then. Calm the hell down. I don't know what your issue is."

"You are my issue, Michael. You are too dumb to realize that you need to leave Grace alone, because she has the right to not be around you. If she doesn't want you around, leave her be. Now, I see one of the reasons why she broke up with you." Ethan shook his head. "I never mentioned this, which I should have, but I also came across this strange Freddy animatronic this morning before meeting you here. He didn't kill me, or try to, but he stopped in front of my car, and I almost hit him. Know what he told me as he stood there in front of my car? He said how much of a 'worthless human' I was, though I wasn't 'a target' for him 'yet'--whatever that meant. All I'm going to say is that it's sad that these animatronics are way more evil than you are, but they are way more honest and straightforward than you. You would be lying to your ex, saying how much of an angel she was to you, but once you met with me, you called her a 'bitch' and all that. Now, that is definitely just depressing, considering that these animatronics--who are also not people, obviously--have more courage to be honest than you are, yet you're not as insane as them. Come on, dude. If you are sane enough to learn truths from lies, then you should stop being a liar."


	35. Chapter 35

By mid-morning, Grace nervously left the hospital after visiting Andrew and Lauren. She grasped her hand into Amber's and looked over at her, almost crying. Amber noticed her tears beginning to form, and the two girls hugged each other.

"I sometimes hate seeing people in hospital beds while they are attached to all these machines; it's just not a fun sight to see," Grace told her. "I know I was in a bed myself, but that's a different situation. Also, hardly knowing Andrew, I still felt greatly sorry for him when they found some of that irritation in his lungs, and I hoped he wouldn't die or anything after the doctors examined that body part."

"He'll be fine." Amber patted Grace's back. "Plus, I don't think he inhaled too much smoke."

"You think, or you know?" Grace stopped hugging Amber and leaned against Andrew's Corvette, which she borrowed to travel to the hospital. "It does not matter how much he inhaled; he still breathed in smoke! That stuff is bad for your lungs!"

"Well, that's obvious, but I'm absolutely sure he will be fine."

"You better be correct about that." Grace glanced over to see Sofia and Matthew heading out of the entrance to the hospital. "Hey, what has been keeping you two? Amber and I were already out here before you were!"

"Mathew wanted a piece of candy from one of the front desks," Sofia replied as she walked beside Matthew. "Just after everything he's been through, I figured he could have a little something to calm him down."

Matthew made his way closer to Grace and looked up at her. "You may be older than me, but do you still like candy?"

Grace smiled at him. "Yes, but I only eat it when I can. Candy is normally a thing I rarely have."

"I don't eat it a lot myself, too." Matthew took a bite of his treat. "Today is one of those days where I can have it."

"Don't worry about his manners." Sofia patted his back and smiled. "He already said 'thank you' to the front desk lady without me telling him to say that. Nice and mature young man."

Matthew grinned at her. 

Grace looked at Sofia and nodded her head. "That is Matthew for you. He was raised to to be a very good and respectful kid. Is that right, Matthew?"

"Right. My parents always said I shouldn't be a misbehaving child, unlike my older brother. He doesn't know what rules even are. Versus him, I want to grow up to be someone who treats everyone nicely, even when I get my own girlfriend. Did Michael treat you poorly, Grace? I never want to turn into him when I'm older."

Grace tried to hold in tears. "Yes, he never treated me right. I'm happy you would never grow up to be like him, because one thing I'll say, Matthew, is that some stuff secretly breaks a girl's heart, while the guy may not realize it. You will have to be careful on what you say to her, so you better learn what is right to say and what is wrong to say. For now, though, you're still young for a girlfriend. Wait until your way older, because as you grow older, you mature way more, and you also learn new things."

Matthew stared at her, concerned. "What did he even do to you? Did he do the same things as he did to me?"

"As in?"

"I don't know. He always called me names. Did he say nasty things to you?"

"To me, I don't think so, but according to his one friend, Ethan, he's said things behind my back."

"Pushed you around?"

"In a way, sort of."

"Ever believed that you were the bad person?"

"Numerous times, Matthew."

Matthew sighed. "Then, we've both been bullied by him. Maybe he did things differently to you, but I'll say that he's definitely just a typical bully--both towards his sibling and his girlfriend."

Grace covered her face with one hand and then took it off. "You're not wrong about that."

"You'll be okay, though." He grabbed one of her arms and smiled at her. 

Amber buried her face in her hands. "Oh my gosh! I never met a kid as good as Matthew is! He's too cute and sweet...I wanna cry!"

Matthew laid his eyes on her. "Oh no, don't cry! If you do, I'll do the same!"

Sofia gave both of them a blank stare. "And I do not feel the tears. You got tons of tears stored in there or something, you redhead, French chick? I barely have any. This just isn't the kind of moment. Why do you, and this kid, need to cry?"

Grace walked close to her and lowered her voice. "Listen, I like how blunt you are, but...keep your thoughts to yourself, please. Thank you for showing that you are less emotional, but let them enjoy themselves. We are avoiding these scary animatronics after all, and we sure need some positivity. It's actually kind of cute what they are saying to each other, and it is bringing a smile on my face. Please don't ruin the moment."

Sofia shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. Fine. I'm sorry, Grace. Just can't help it when I feel hardly any emotions at all. Even my parents know that I'm not as happy as I used to be, so I apologize if any emotionless moments of mine come into place; that's how I am."

"But you can change that."

"How exactly?"

"Have you considered seeing a mental health counselor in the past year? Please tell me you have."

Sofia shook her head. "Mental health counselors can burn in hell. Why must I say such a thing? Why should they put me on some medication that will still mess with my mind? Are they trying to get me thrown back into a mental hospital? Sorry, but no thank you!"

"You could at least try other things," Grace suggested. "I'm still a bit confused about your mental health. You've been told your bipolar, but are you sure those people are saying that...just because?"

"I may be bipolar, but if I was, I would be all sweet and carefree towards you, and I would be insane and psychotic without you around."

"That's not exactly how bipolar disorders work, I don't think. Besides, I already know you're crazy as hell--vandalizing your ex's car with glass, randomly following my ex-boyfriend to the burning mall, wishing he was dead, almost actually killing him by strangling him, carrying a knife in your pocket everywhere you go, repeatedly switching moods in front of me unintentionally...I think I get it."

"I've been evaluated for some form of bipolar disorder in my childhood, but forget mental counselors! I'm completely fine! I don't know why my parents kept spending money on bullshit!"

Grace laughed. "Fine? You are not fine to me."

"Why are you laughing at me? Something wrong with me?"

"Okay, it was inappropriate for me to laugh--my fault--but I know you're not alright. We barely know each other, but I absolutely am sure you're mentally unstable. Everything you do in your free time is most likely not normal, like when you were with my ex; yeah, it was great that you talked to him, but nearly killing him is just something I would not do, and I don't think a lot of people would do it either. You see, it's just abnormal to strangle someone because of them being a jerk. They can learn from their mistakes another way, not from someone choking them."

"Michael is the biggest jerk alive. Don't you agree that he needs to be taken care of in a way like that? By the sounds of it, you still like him. He does not deserve to treat a woman like what he did to you; he deserves to be taught a special lesson!"

"You say you were fine, but you're here now...wishing my ex was dead. Your beliefs are very strange, Sofia. I hate him, too, but I would not go as far as killing him."

"Well, you're a wimp then." Sofia smiled at Grace. "The thought of pain, specifically for the people against me, is fun. Michael is one of them, so why not show him pain, like what he has given to you in a way?"

"You have to be kidding about all of this. Are you serious about your hatred towards him? Can't be pretending like you're crazy or something."

"Couldn't be any more serious, Grace. I'm sure that I am not lying to you."

"Look, if there's one thing you should go after and kill, that would have to be the Nightmares; they deserve to be destroyed than anyone else. The one animatronic I'm more worried about is that Freddy fella, as he's the toughest and the smartest, and he is the only one that communicates with us. I'd say we get rid of him first." Grace put her hand on Sofia's shoulder. "Just leave Michael alone, okay? Let's just focus on what is really the threat to us all. I still am angry with what he did to me, but he'll learn by himself; soon as he knows it, shit will be soon thrown at him."

"Oh, I know Nightmare Freddy and his friends deserve to be killed off; those assholes don't know what they're doing to all those poor, innocent people. You said he could also talk to us? He may be useful for finding out the main purpose on why he and his friends are after all of us; he could finally explain to us what he wanted out of all the people he's already killed. Ever considered that?" Sofia frowned. "And Grace, I am fine--seriously. If I ever need help for whatever reason, I'll come to you, but for now, I'm completely okay. Let me just live my life without you getting your nonsense advice and tips in my way."

* * *

Matthew and Grace went back to her house to check on her parents. Upon entering through the door, Grace smiled as she noticed Iris sitting in front of the door. The cat stared at her with fear and moved her ears backwards. 

Grace bent down and reached out to pet her. "Hey, girl, it's only me. Why are you afraid?"

Iris placed her ears back forward and slowly walked up to Grace, sniffing her hand. She suddenly backed up a few steps, still scared, and ran away from her. Grace stood up and watched Iris in confusion as her cat ran to another room.

"What's wrong with your pet?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know. She's been so skittish lately since I heard about the Nightmares. I hope they haven't been visiting this house." She widened her eyes and quickly ran up the stairs. "Mother! Father! Are you two here? Are you both okay?"

As soon as she got to the top, Janice walked out of her room, and she was surprised to see Grace. Janice immediately hugged her daughter and kept whispering to her if she was alright.

"I'm fine," Grace replied and gently pushed Janice off her. "I just went with some friends after I was released from the hospital. Why are you acting so nervous about me not coming home? I was only gone for a few hours with people by my side to protect me if anything happened."

"I just heard the news about the mall," Janice told her. "I knew you were there, Grace, and are you hurt or something? Do you need to go back to the hospital?"

"No, I don't need another hospital visit. A couple of my friends had to pay a visit, but I'm unharmed. Mentally, I'm hurt, but not physically." Grace sighed. "Mother, you probably aren't thinking about it, but I am also going back to work. I'll prove to my boss that even with little sleep and from being injured, I can function without any problems. If my boss wants to give me that ''you can't work until you get some sleep' talk, I would tell him that the other mistakes I made...were mistakes."

"You've just been discharged from the hospital, though. Stay home and get some rest, alright? Didn't your doctor say you needed to recover for a bit? As you recover from your injury, this would also be the perfect time to balance out your sleep schedule." Janice patted Grace's shoulder. "Look, the boss says you can't work, because he cares about you. After all, didn't he say--when you were applying for the job there--that he treated his employees like family? He basically made a promise that he will not force you to work if you're uncomfortable or need some 'health days' off, as he's not one of those heartless employers. Wanna know how caring he is, too? I was on the phone with him not too long ago, and he already knows that you need some time off. He said to me that you can come back whenever you're healed and comfortable enough to work; there's no need to call him every day."

"You don't need to tell me all of that; I know that he knows I am on some 'break.' Of course he is caring enough towards the employees, because he'll allow us to take breaks when we need them, whether they're 'mental health days' or whatever, without forcing us to work if it'll overwhelm us. He also has that 'employee benefits' stuff. You know what those are, right? He does pay us very little during our breaks, like while I'm getting paid four dollars an hour, he's probably giving me half of that right now." Grace smiled. "My boss also is someone I could talk to if I have anything on my mind. I remember after getting my ankle injury, he was talking to me about my health and overall well-being. I've heard of other employees that would just stop what they're doing and go to talk to him if they have a problem. Nice guy."

Janice nodded her head. "Now, Grace, I know how much you want to work, but you do need to rest. Haven't you seen yourself? I'm not meaning to sound rude, but you do look extremely sleep deprived, and on top of that, you have special equipment attached to you--where did you get that from by the way?--so yes, I think you need to let yourself get a break."

"Mother, this is my life, so let me do what I want without you bothering me, please. If I'm alert and energetic enough to dodge an explosion from the mall, I am sure that I'm alert enough to clean at work. To answer your question, too, I got these pieces of equipment from the hospital; I'm using them for now. I was told to record any changes in my oxygen and blood pressure levels, just in case any changes may signal a problem." Grace crossed her arms. "By the way, can Matthew stay here again? He's still having problems at home with his brother."

Janice never answered right away, and Grace stormed off towards her room after a long, quiet moment between them. Janice stopped her daughter before she could even get the chance to enter her bedroom.

"What?" Grace asked, turning around. "You weren't answering me, so I guessed that you did not want to talk to me about that."

"Grace, I know there is a lot more to this situation of you bringing Matthew here; it's not just because of his brother," Janice explained. "I know these rumored animatronics are after you--the Freddy one specifically. How did I find out? Well, you may not have noticed, but when going outside this morning to see if you were home yet, I found markings on our house. Seemed like the bastard who wrote this message used real blood."

Grace immediately leaned towards Janice to listen. "I'm sorry. What did you just say?" 

"What is the full name of this Freddy animatronic, if he has a certain name? I found a message on the wall by him, saying, 'Grace is mine! Your daughter is a dead girl!' Then, I saw an initial after the end of the short message, which was 'NF.' I didn't know who exactly that was at first, but I figured it was one of those animatronics. I was in shock when I saw that, so I took a picture of it and reported it. I have not heard the police come yet, but it's been several minutes since I called."

Grace felt her heart skip a beat. "Did you clean it, or is it still there?"

"I didn't touch it at all. I'd leave it for the cops to investigate."

"Right now, there's raw blood on our house wall? Fucking disgusting." Grace sighed, trying to stop herself from feeling sick. "Sorry for my language, but I'm in shock, too, yet it still doesn't surprise me that I'm a target. This actual, real animatronic, Nightmare Freddy--that is his name--is viciously obsessed with me. Ever since I came into the picture to defend Matthew, who the Nightmare animatronics were officially after, Nightmare Freddy wanted me dead as well. I'm not sure about now, since he's off and killing other people, but I feel as if I'm still his target. Please don't be freaking out, because as long as we defend each other, he won't get me. I promise that next time, I'll let you know where I am if I run off again."

Janice hesitated. "You better! Just from hearing all of this now, he should never come after you! When the time comes, you better be with me and your father!"

"I need to be with my friends, too. Can't be away from them and let them be vulnerable to the animatronics." Grace adjusted her breathing tube. "I may have a few of the employees at Fredbear's come with me. This other guy who's working there to make it through college, Elijah, is pretty close to me. We barely know everything about each other, but I trust and respect him enough to make sure he is protected. I wish I could help defend everyone in this town, but I can't, so I'll just have to grab as many people I know."

"Crazy suggestion, but can't we just leave town?" Janice asked. "We can get away from all this."

"Good luck. The animatronics always know where you go." Grace faced herself away from Janice. "Trust me, in this case, that's a stupid idea. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to at least try to rest for a little bit before work. Matthew is downstairs, so you figure out what you want to do with him. I'm too stressed and exhausted right now to do anything, because not only are the people close to me avoiding these Nightmare animatronics, but I also am dealing with an animatronic who just won't leave me alone."

Janice watched Grace slowly walk towards her room.

"For the next three or four hours, just leave me be, Mother. I'm still going into work later, but I'm currently a physical and emotional mess. Let me worry about me, and don't you bring your opinions and advice into my situations right now."


	36. Chapter 36

Grace walked into Fredbear's Family Diner that same day, though she was a bit later than the start of her usual work time. She was dressed in her normal work outfit and had her special hospital equipment hidden underneath her clothes. Grace tried her best to make the monitors as hidden as possible in her pockets, followed by her breathing tube under her shirt, but the tube was only visible from her neck area up to her face.

Elijah was with her in the same nearly empty room, tossing a dish cloth from one hand to another in boredom. He spotted Grace and stared at her carefully as she continued to walk throughout the main room. He was leaning against one of the game machines, but he adjusted himself so that his back was no longer touching the machine.

Grace began to stand in place near him and gave him a quick glance, unsure about what he would think about her having a tube attached to her nose. Not many seconds passed by, and she then took her eyes off Elijah's, quickly walking away without saying anything.

"Now, now, hold on." Elijah grabbed Grace by her shoulder, completely stopping her. "Why are you looking like you're scared of me?"

Grace never turned around to look at him, and she closed her eyes in fear.

"I heard you were in the hospital. Are you okay now? Don't be scared to say you were, because it does make sense that you're wearing some sort of equipment. I mean, is that what you're self-conscious about? It's just a damn breathing tube, Grace; no one is going to judge you for wearing something that is helping you."

"That's not what I'm worried about, although I think I look a bit ridiculous with it on," Grace replied and faced herself towards him. "I'm just worried that our boss is going to come in and say something to me. He's been telling me and my parents that I can't come back to work if I'm not functional enough to. I know he is saying that for my health and safety, but I still want to work today; I need the money. Not only do I need money, though, but working will distract me from all this stuff going on. This animatronic shit going around town is making me feel like I want to give up. It's just a nightmare I can't escape; even my loved ones can't! It's all bullshit!"

Elijah saw Grace kicking one of the machines in anger, and he immediately grabbed her arms, pulling her away. "Hey, settle down! I know about the rumor and all the deaths regarding these animatronics."

"Do you?" She yanked her arms out of his hands. "At least you never got hurt by one of them--emotionally and physically. I was in the hospital, because the terrifying Freddy counterpart stabbed me in my upper abdomen, and I was losing blood so much that even my...cycle...had to be forcefully paused until the next month. How has this monster also hurt me regarding my emotions? He reminds me of my ex, except he is more honest and evil. That Freddy animatronic--who I call 'Nightmare Freddy'--has told me multiple times how much of a bitch and worthless girl that I am. My ex would also say I was a bitch, except he did it behind my back. Nightmare Freddy was at least straightforward with me."

Elijah hesitated, shocked at everything he heard. "How is that robotic jerk being honest with you? He's lying when he insults you, because those are all lies to me at least. Grace, you are not worthless or a bitch at all. Are you going to let something that isn't human make fun of you? Ignore what he has to say, and you'll be fine."

Grace laughed loudly at him, almost crying. "Nightmare Freddy is just very honest, though. Anything that leaves his mouth are all facts; I've learned that myself the more I encountered him."

"And you're really going to listen to an animatronic?" 

She began to feel tears leave her eyes. "Yes, because obviously whoever built him made him extremely smart and self-aware for his kind, and on top of that, they programmed him to be blunt with anyone he comes across. Come on, Elijah; you know that he's just telling the truth about me. Apart from breaking up with a fake boyfriend not too long ago, I feel like whatever Nightmare Freddy has to say to me are not lies--definitely not lies at all."

"Grace, he's...just...a...robot!" Elijah tightly gripped her shoulders. "Are you going to let a damn animatronic bring you down like that?"

She refused to answer his question.

"He's just a robot, Grace!" Elijah repeated. "You need to keep that in mind, because an animatronic bullying you is obviously nonsense. He's not human like us, so what's his reason for speaking lies like that to you?"

Grace took his hands off her shoulders and wiped her tears with her shirt. "Look, just forget I brought him up. Let me go clock in, and I will get started with my work. Sorry for keeping you."

Elijah kept his eyes on her as she walked away from him. With great concern, he ran after her, but he soon stopped when he was halfway behind her. He sighed and made his way back to his original spot.

Grace entered through a door, with an "employees only" sign nailed down on it, and sat down at a nearby table. Another employee that worked in the party room was already in there with her, and she looked over at Grace, not seeing how worn down and stressed out she was right away. The older employee had her own free lunch in her hands, but she set them down on the counter and walked over towards Grace.

"Afternoon, Grace," she greeted and smiled. "I noticed you were a bit late, so I took your lunch our boss normally offers to us, and I put it in the refrigerator if you want it. Didn't want your food to go bad."

Grace remained silent and kept facing the ground.

"Uh, you okay, Grace?" she asked, realizing something was wrong, and sat down in a chair next to her. 

Grace stared up at her, revealing her baggy, halfway closed eyes and red face from her crying. "Too much has been going on outside of my stay at one of the hospitals downtown. I'd rather not talk about everything, but I'll say that I was attacked by one of these rumored animatronics that have been going around this town. I just got out of the hospital several hours ago, and my injury isn't severe enough to keep me from working; you would think that most hospital visits soon turn into bed rest days for a week or so, but I immediately came back here to work without staying home to recover. Yeah, I'm fine--just okay!"

The employee sat up straight in her chair, surprised. "You were attacked by what?"

"Didn't you hear about these animatronics appearing by the time midnight hits?" Grace set her elbow on the table and covered her forehead with her hand. "Almost everyone knows about this rumor, Elizabeth. Were you not keeping up with the news or something?"

Elizabeth never answered as soon as she was asked that question. "I have, but I've just been trying to forget about these animatronics, just because hearing about them makes me a bit afraid. You were really attacked by one of them, sweetie? Poor you."

"Please don't call me that." Grace stood up and walked over to the refrigerator, placing her hand on the handle. "But yes, I was attacked. One of the animatronics stabbed me in my upper abdomen, and I lost quite a bit of blood. I may not be completely healed yet, but I feel a lot better than when I was attacked. I'm required to wear two monitors I have in my pockets right now, plus a breathing tube to control my oxygen level."

"I'm also not trying to get into your business here, but...have you been crying?"

Grace shrugged one shoulder and pulled on the refrigerator handle. "Maybe. More than likely, I could have just dealt with allergies."

"That doesn't look like allergies to me." Elizabeth stood up from her chair as well. "What's going on?"

"Oh, it's just nonsense. I told Elijah about it, but he told me that I was not worthless or whatever he said to me, as I was bullied by a certain someone. I still hear their voice in my head, saying the same insults they told me earlier."

"Who bullied you?"

Grace stayed silent for a bit as she grabbed her food and closed the refrigerator. "You'll think I am crazy if I say, but I will go ahead and tell you. Well, I was insulted by the same animatronic that attacked me. One of them is programmed to speak, while I think his friends are just mute or don't actually have the ability to talk, and he was telling me how much of a worthless girl I was. Like I said, I still hear him repeating the same insults to me over and over in my head; they've been there since I was attacked by him."

Elizabeth couldn't find any words to say to Grace.

"The bastard wants me dead, too." Grace slammed the containers of her lunch on the table. "Not meaning to gross you out here, but my mother found the side of our house covered in actual blood, and she began to think that whoever vandalized it was this same animatronic who is after me. He wrote a short message saying that I was a 'dead girl,' and look here; I have a photo of it that my mother took."

Elizabeth watched closely as Grace sat down in a chair next to hers. Grace reached into her pocket, grabbing a printed out picture, and Elizabeth widened her eyes in shock when the photo was shown to her.

"That was written by an actual animatronic when I wasn't at home," Grace told her, pointing at the written message in the picture. "That is real blood that he used, but I don't know whose blood that is. My mother contacted the cops, and I think they already visited my house by now to investigate this. I'm still a bit shocked by what this animatronic wrote, but I'm trying my best not to let fear overcome me."

"Wait, wait." Elizabeth scratched her head in confusion as Grace took the photo back. "Who exactly wrote that on your house? What is the name of this animatronic you speak of?"

"These animatronics roaming around town are more menacing versions of the Freddy Fazbear characters. While they do have their original names, I also 'half named' them, and what I mean by that is that I added the term 'nightmare' in front of their real names, just because of their insanely scary appearances as if they belonged in a dream. For example, this animatronic that wrote on the side of my house is Nightmare Freddy, and he is the more terrifying and evil version of Freddy Fazbear. Now, this whole name thing goes for his friends, too, like Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Foxy, and Nightmare Chica.

"Just as something to say real quick, these Nightmares are too self-aware and evil for typical animatronics. Out of all of them, I think Nightmare Freddy acts way more human than his friends. I mean, I don't know how else to explain this, but once you get to see him, you would agree that he acts too human for a robot. Every time I came across him, he talks with high intelligence; yes, he is not dumb at all, and considering he knows where I am, too, almost all the time, I cannot escape his presence. Well, I guess I should have said that he acts human, but he has superhuman traits, like his strength for one thing."

Elizabeth sighed. "Wow. This is...a lot for me to take in."

"I'm sorry if this was too much information. I will leave you be if you need some time to think. Besides, I need to eat real quick and get to work."

"Well, it's just I'm surprised about all of this that you're telling me. While I have heard about these animatronics, I didn't know all of this about them. Are you sure that they 'act human' and have superhuman characteristics?"

"I can say that they really do. I have ran across Nightmare Freddy multiple times, and the more I encountered him, the more I understood him. I do not know much about his friends, other than the fact they stay silent and want me dead as well. Nightmare Freddy is one of those who--while his friends are menacing, too--you just do not want to mess with him. Trust me, I already angered him enough, and he went off on me during those times, insulting me and injuring me. He's got more anger problems than his friends."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Sounds like you know a lot about him and his friends."

"Yeah, and the more I know about them, the more help I'll be to the FBI. They had their SWAT officers sent out here to help track down these monsters, and I actually spoke to one of the officers. They want to get my drawings of the Nightmares published to newspapers and the government, believe it or not."

"The whole government is acting on just four animatronics? Why is that?"

"Local and state police supposedly went after them already, but they were unable to successfully take care of them. In fact, I heard tons of cops in this state strangely went missing between midnight and six AM, and I would not be surprised if those officers were going after the animatronics. I believe over 10 of those cops disappeared; I just remember hearing the news on the TV when my mother was watching it this morning. I managed to get only two hours of sleep before work, but I later went downstairs to watch the news with her."

Elizabeth fell silent again. 

Grace grabbed ahold of the containers on the table and moved them back into the refrigerator. "Actually, I am not hungry from everything I was telling you. I'm just going to do my normal tasks and eat around dinnertime. Thank you for willing to listen to me. You know, I am stressed out and scared right now from everything that has been going on, but...anyways...I'll see you later, Elizabeth. It was nice chatting for a bit."

* * *

As he was sitting on the living room couch all by himself, Matthew noticed his older walking into Grace's home--with her parents' permission--followed by Sofia right behind him. She pushed him with one hand into the room and yelled at him to sit down.

"Geez, you psycho! Why do you have to be so rough with me?" Michael asked with a raised voice. "I haven't done anything to you!"

"I may not have done things to you, but you have done things to those you loved. Don't you remember?" Sofia tugged on the back of his shirt, the collar tightening around his neck, and she leaned in to his ear with a more quiet voice. "Or have you forgot? Tell me."

Matthew watched in silence as Michael flinched from being slightly choked. A small smile came across his face from seeing his brother in minor pain.

"Get your hands off me!" Michael turned around and shoved Sofia back. "I just wanted to come here to talk to my little brother! Why did you have to come along to make things worse?"

"Grace's parents said I could come here with you, while they're out for the moment, just in case you don't start things with your brother." Sofia grabbed ahold of his shirt again and squeezed her other hand around his neck. "Now, if you say or do one thing to Matthew, you're getting it. You understand?"

Matthew continued to watch with his smile still on his face.

"Oh, fuck off!" Michael pushed her back again. "I should be alone with him, so I would not deal with your creepy ass watching me. Besides, you may be a psycho, but because you're a chick, that makes things way easier."

Sofia gripped her hand on his arm and started to twist it, whispering in his ear a second time. "Say that to me one more time. You will regret it."

Michael screamed as soon as the pain in his arm got to him. "Okay, okay! I won't insult you like that! Just...stop!"

"You promise?"

"Yes, I won't...say anything to hurt you!Please...stop twisting my arm! Please, stop it!"

She let go of him and stared as he laid his one arm on the other. "That's what I like to hear."

"Oh...God." Michael felt his breathing speed up as he adjusted to the pain. "Man, I bet...you're fun...in the bedroom."

"What do you mean by that?" Sofia walked towards him, getting close to his face.

"Nothing! It was just...some comment I made: it wasn't meant...to offend you."

"But as a response to that statement of yours, yes, I am fun, and that is not sarcasm. Thank you for the nice comment." Sofia laughed. "May have been a couple of years since I got in on some of that action, but even with my inability to hear sometimes, every guy I dated or randomly hooked up with in the past--the hookups mostly were in high school or at parties I was invited to--said I'm great at that kind of stuff, and I've tried so many things outside my comfort zone with them; not a lot of people in this generation would approve of some of this stuff. Also, you see how I'm trying my best to talk clean here about this? There's a child right over there! Keep that more descriptive, explicit stuff to yourself!"

Michael rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Sofia grabbed his shirt another time and pushed him over to Matthew. "Now, you've got some explaining to do with all the things you have done to your brother. I'm watching you, Michael, and remember what special, deadly treatment you'll get if you do one single thing to Matthew."

"Okay, I understand!" Michael sat down next to Matthew.

Matthew moved himself away from his older brother, fearful of him.

Sofia looked over at Matthew. "Oh, sweetie, he won't hurt you. I promise, if he does, he'll be taught a lesson."

He nodded his head and nervously glanced up at Michael, not saying anything.

"Hey there, little man," Michael said with a shaky voice, and he turned back a few times to see Sofia standing there in anger. "Uh, I just...wanted to talk to you about...the things I have done."

Matthew looked away from him, afraid of seeing his older brother.

"Look at me." Michael sighed and placed a hand on Matthew's shoulder. "I know that everything I did to you...was all wrong. I shouldn't have done the rude and harsh things I did or said to you, and I really regret that. I don't know what went through my head when bullying you, but I finally realized what I've done. Give me a chance, please, and I'll prove that I'm willing to be a better brother."

Matthew refused to answer.

"Please, man. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Michael watched as his little brother soon jumped up from the couch and stormed off into Grace's room. The older brother and Sofia were left alone in the living room, and Michael covered his face with his hands.

"Ouch. Try harder." Sofia smiled and lightly ran her knife across her face. "I don't think he still likes you, and he probably never will."

Michael shook his head. "I know he'll forgive me sometime--um, what the hell are you doing?"

She took her knife off her face. "What? Is there something up with me?"

"Yeah, you were just...whatever. Forget it, you weirdo."

Sofia laughed randomly and put her knife away in her pocket. "You know, Michael, I'm glad we never did anything that one day we went out on a 'friendly date.' We may have been drinking a bit, but we could've easily gone to one of our homes and...done some stuff, but no, you still had your girlfriend at the time."

"Don't you think I'm glad, too? Hate to say it, but I'd never have sex with a girl like you, although by the sound of your past life, you are a really fun girl. Not only do you sound like a freak sexually, but you're also an overall freak with an unstable mental state. I never knew you were crazy until when you strangled me that one time. Do you purposely hide your true self or something until a later time? I love how you were all classy and sweet to me when we met, but now, you're a whole different girl."

"No, I'm just completely normal, Michael. You really think I'm a psycho, like what everyone else thinks of me?"

"Yes, you are. How can you deny that?"

"I deny it, because I know I act normal. If you want to continue and insult me, go ahead. I have a weapon in my pocket I can use on you."

"If you do that, I'll call the police."

"Go ahead. You'll be dead before they get here."

Michael chuckled. "Are you seriously this insane? You know that I'm not afraid of you."

Sofia walked closer to him and got close to his face. "Does this make you scared?"

He only smiled at her. 

"I guess that's a 'no.'" She pulled her knife out again and laid it against his neck. "Does this make you feel afraid now, sweetheart? Don't be lying to me."

Michael frowned. "Maybe a little."

"A little?" Sofia pressed the knife harder against his skin. "How about now?"

"Okay...okay! Stop, please! You're really scaring me now!"

"Huh, even a guy who thinks he is tough against his little brother is also a pussy! How hilarious is that?" Sofia leaned in to get closer to his face, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Who's the only pathetic man now? I am looking at him right now."

Michael never spoke.

She took her fingers from her other hand and ran them slowly across his face, while she kept the knife held in her other hand. "Now, remember what will happen to you if you get anywhere near your brother, or even your ex, and continue to harass them. No one will find out I made you suffer to death, sweetie, not even the cops. Your brother and your ex won't even feel heartbroken if they find out I put this knife in your body multiple times and made you cry in pain; hell, they may be happy you are gone. Just keep in mind that not even anyone else you love would care if you died. If you want to live, be a nice man, alright?"

"F-Fine!" Michael stuttered.

Sofia placed her one hand on his chin and exhaled heavily through her mouth. "I'm watching you, Michael. Keep that note in your mind."

Michael, with shaky hands, watched as she moved herself away from him. After quickly adjusting her curly hair, which was pulled in a side ponytail, Sofia winked at him and held the knife up to her neck. She pointed at him and then at the weapon. 

She laughed evilly and carefully placed the knife in her pocket, soon walking upstairs to Grace's bedroom.


	37. Chapter 37

Both Matthew and Sofia sat on the floor of Grace's bedroom. After a silent, awkward moment between the two, Matthew stared in surprise as Sofia unexpectedly handed over his Fredbear plush. She smiled and watched closely as he quickly took it from her.

"I...I didn't have this with me lately," Matthew told her and looked down at the plush. "Where did you find it?"

"Your brother had it with him somewhere in his car," she replied. "I'm not sure about your other plushies, but this was the only one he brought with him."

Matthew shyly smiled at Sofia and hugged her. "Thank you. These last two days, I have always felt empty not having Fredbear with me; I mean, he is my only best friend."

"Is he?"

"Yes, but my plushies were my friends as well. I always turned to them, because--" He stopped hugging her and sighed. "--I didn't have any other friends, and no one cared for me."

"But what I heard, you're great friends with Grace. You trust her, don't you?"

Matthew nodded his head in silence.

"I also heard she's like a mother to you, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"You may still have your plushies as friends, but there is a lot more options for friends than your plushies only. If Grace cares enough for you, and to the point she'll literally die for you, does that show something? She wouldn't want to hurt you at all, not even her friends or anyone else who loves kids. Now, only someone who would want to hurt a child like you is just a plain monster." Sofia adjusted her position and began to sit with her legs crossed. "Listen, Matthew, I'm interested in studying psychology, as one of my multiple options I'm interested in, when I get into college. If you do not know what that is, anyone in that field studies the characteristics of the brain, and these characteristics are mostly related to mental health. If you ever need someone to talk to for some advice on your feelings or emotions, you can always come to me."

"I have heard Grace said that you're a psycho towards people you hate."

"Matthew, sweetie, I'm alright. If I ever do need help, I'll go to a mental health counselor. As a fact, even psychologists need to seek mental help."

"Are you sure you're not insane?"

Sofia patted his arm. "I feel completely fine, and please do not call me 'crazy.' Hurts me when I hear that."

"I'm sorry. I won't then." Matthew wrapped his arms around his plush. "Well, I do feel upset from everything in my life. Probably the most recent thing that I can't let go, aside of the animatronics, is that my brother once locked me in a room at Fredbear's as a 'prank.' Why does he do this stuff to me? I just don't feel as happy and free as I used to be. Can you talk to me about my problem with Michael and my fear towards how others may treat me? I also feel...helpless."

"Sure." Sofia moved herself closer to him. "After everything Michael has done to you, none of that was your fault. There is a lot of bad people in this world, and in some cases, I find hate to be like a contiguous disease; what I mean by that is when some are exposed to these other bad people, whether it is their friends or a family member, that kind of hatred against others spreads to them. As I learned, you don't need to always have good parents to become some sort of a bully; some of that lust for teasing people can be taken from friends, for example. There is already too much of it that it's an illness taking over the world, and we can cure it, but it's hard, and it may still exist in future generations. Matthew, when I say that nothing is your fault, I really mean it. People like Michael play with others' minds to make them think they're helpless, and he's sucking that power out of you and is saving it for himself; what I'm saying is that he's trying to make you feel less powerful and strong, but look, that is him doing all of that. Think: what have you done to him? Nothing at all. If you never did anything to him, there is no reason he should be treating you that way. He is trying to make himself think that he is better than you and that you did something wrong, but there is a way to stop his nonsense, and that is to fight back. Don't actually fight him, as I don't think violence solves everything, but you can speak up to him. 

"Now, I honestly didn't believe Michael when he was talking to you down there. Personally, I do not trust him, because he's already done enough damage to you. He should already be in jail or some other place if he's inflicted physical pain on you. But hear me out, Matthew; you don't always have to have second thoughts about everyone like me. Just as I follow, the more severe things people do are the ones I most likely won't feel sorry for. If I'm called less hurtful names, and that person calling me those apologized to me, I'll give them a chance. With someone practically abusing a child, though, that's something I'll never forgive them for. Again, the things Michael did to you was never your fault. If you didn't do anything to trigger his behavior, it is obvious that he has no reason to be treating you like that, but he--himself--chose to do those harmful things to you. You had no role in his sudden behavior; everything he has done was his own fault, not yours. Trust me on all of this. I know you're doubting yourself, and you wish I was lying, but this is all the truth--completely. Matthew, none of this was your fault; you're just a sweet, innocent child who deserves being treated better. Do not listen to your brother, and listen to those who actually want to make sure you're safe. Isn't that why Grace wants you away from your older brother as much as possible? She wants to make sure you're safe with her. She's taking you away to protect you from him. She would die for you--literally! Do you get all of this, Matthew? I'm basically saying that there are people who do care for you. You may still keep your plushies as friends, but there are some other people in this world who are not one of the bad people."

Matthew remained silent for a moment and nodded his head in fear. "I think I am, but I'm still...confused about everything. I'm also confused about the Nightmares."

"Same thing for them as what I said about Michael: anything negative they say about you are all lies. Grace may think they're honest, but in their evil mindset, they think they are; seems like Freddy's insults towards her has taken over her mind, and she thinks she's the bad person. Again, don't listen to anything that Freddy animatronic has to say about you, Grace, or anyone else; like Michael, he's just trying to make himself feel more powerful than you, but you're strong, and you can fight back."

"Thanks for the tip." Matthew felt a smile coming across his face. "I feel a bit better."

She grinned back. "Good. Positivity is essential to life. Negativity is just the thing we all have to fight."

He took his Fredbear plush and stood it up in front of him. "By the way, how are the animatronics going to be destroyed? I know there are special officers that were sent out, but how exactly will the Nightmares be gone forever?"

"Grace noted that water may be a weakness of theirs, as on the first night, she never saw any of them when it was raining. Now, they may be waterproof, and they may have been hiding anywhere that night, but we never mentioned we could explode them to bits. If they can stand water, fire and explosions may be the key to how they'll be destroyed. The SWAT officers may have some explosives that the local and state officers don't have, and they may use those on the Nightmares."

"I think it would be cool to see them get blown up."

"I think so, too." Sofia proceeded to smile at him. "But considering one of the animatronics can talk, I don't think all of them will be destroyed. Nightmare Freddy may just be captured and held somewhere, like some special facility, if the officers want to find out who built all of them and somehow get him to tell the SWAT officers. In my opinion, I find it easier to destroy his friends and leave him alone, if he really is the only one that can talk. I believe it'll be harder to capture all of them; besides, what is the purpose of holding other animatronics that can't speak? What will you do with them? With Freddy as the leader, he will probably be the only animatronic that, I think, will be helpful to the officers to track down his creator. He may not like it, but they'll have to get an answer out of him."

"How will they hold him if he's too strong? Can't he escape or something?"

"I think the officers will find some way to keep him from attacking others while he's captured. There may be some way they could 'sedate' him or calm him down if he gets too crazy."

"Can't they drill off his teeth and claws? That'll stop him from attacking, right?"

"That is a smart idea, but he can still kill people without his teeth and claws, like strangling someone as one example."

"Oh. I didn't think about that."

Sofia patted Matthew's arm. "Don't worry. We may have to actually consider that thought of yours just in case; we can tell it to the officers if they do decide to capture Freddy."

Matthew sighed. "What about in the meantime? Will we have to come up with some plan to help the SWAT officers get ahold of the animatronics? If they can't somehow get a plan, we can help."

"Matthew, I have not thought about that yet, but since you brought it up, let's at least get an idea of how we could actually help them."

* * *

As a couple hours passed by, Grace sat down in the break room and nervously ate a chocolate bar that her boss offered to her. At first, she refused to take it, but he demanded that she'd eat something, as he knew she barely received food with everything that was going on.

Her boss sat in the room with her and kept taking multiple glances at Grace, worried about her. "Grace, can I ask you something?"

She looked back at him and continued to slowly eat the chocolate bar. "What?"

"Why did you come into work today? I thought you were supposed to stay home and rest."

"Why do you have to force me to stay home? I can function just fine."

"I'm not saying you can't work at all or that you aren't a good worker, but I have been trying to make you stay home, just because I care for you. Like I have told you when you received an interview here for the first time--back when you were finishing your junior year of high school--I always treat my employees like family. Trust me, Grace, when I say that I have met a couple employers and bosses who put their employees in harsh conditions, and I'm not like one of those heartless guys at all. I do want to make sure you're completely okay, but in your current case, I still think you need to be home; that's my own opinion, though."

Grace eventually bit down on her candy bar in anger, forcefully ripping a bite off it. 

"Listen, I do want to make sure you're completely able to work here, but I just don't think now is the time. Give yourself maybe...a week, and we'll see where you're at." Her boss folded his hand in his lap. "You know I want to check if you're actually alright. Do you remember what happened here when you dealt with your lack of sleep? You suffered a lot of panic attacks here that you normally don't deal with. You volunteered to do a task you weren't originally hired for, and you made a mistake by spilling things, which then led to you crying and getting nervous. I know the whole concept behind emotions becoming a problem without sleep for a certain duration, but that clearly is a problem. I may be a boss, and you're just an employee, but it does really make me feel sorry for you when you are in that kind of condition. Makes me wonder if you are best off at home."

"I'm better off here," Grace said as she chewed the last of her candy bar. "I'll prove it to you."

"Prove it to me? Are you willing to? Grace, look at you--you just got out of the hospital today, and plus, I don't think you slept that much either!"

"So?" She crumbled up the wrapper in her hand.

"So, I don't think you should be here."

Grace quietly laughed at him in response.

"I'm serious when I say that I don't think you should be working; this is no joke. Don't think that I never heard what happened to you at the hospital from your lack of sleep. If that were to happen while working here that day, you'd collapse on the floor and cause a terrifying scene for everyone. I get it--no one wants to witness a seizure, but what if that did happen? That's no laughing matter, Grace."

"But it didn't happen." She adjusted her leg that she had propped up on another chair.

"It could've, Grace." He kept a serious look on his face. "It was likely it would have maybe happened."

"It didn't, though." Grace laughed a second time through a closed mouth and raised her hands up. "Just saying!"

Her boss sighed and stood up. "Alright, go ahead and work, but you'll be working like you're drunk or something. I've always been told that a lack of sleep is the same as being drunk in a way, and in your state, it's like you had only a few small drinks--not too much, but you're still obviously out of it."

"Look, I'm completely aware of myself! I am not drunk, and I do not act like it!"

He crossed his arms. "I really don't want to argue with you, Grace. Just...go work, if you're desperately wanting to."

"I'll be out in like...five minutes. I need to get myself awake more for a bit."

"Okay. Go ahead, but we need you out soon. We had a party here that ended half an hour ago, and there are still some things that need to be cleaned up."

Grace nodded at him. "Got it."

As she was left alone in the break room, Grace got up from her chair and began to mess with her two monitors and breathing tube. Her blood pressure monitor beeped at her as she turned it off and back on, seeing if it was still running alright. She soon did the same thing with her oxygen monitor. 

Eventually, Grace looked back at the photo Janice took and frowned as she saw it. She shook her head, cruising under her breath, and began to feel tears streaming down her face as Nightmare Freddy's voice replayed in her head.

"Am I really just some worthless bitch, Nightmare Freddy?" she asked herself as she took one last look at the picture and placed it back in her pocket. "I mean, you're not wrong. Guess I'm the wrong person here when I say how much of an evil, self-centered asshole you are."

She dried the last of her tears and put her hand on the door handle, sighing and opening it to exit the room.

Grace looked over as she noticed the youngest employee of Fredbear's walking through the front door. Being the exact age as the typical minimum required age to work at the diner, the 15-year-old nervously looked around as he buttoned up his shirt. He saw Grace and immediately ran over towards her.

"Ryan, I see...you're a little late," she told him. "You're usually here at two, but I think it's a few minutes past that already."

"Is our boss somewhere around here, Grace? I need to talk to him right away--literally...right now! It's urgent!"

"Why? What's up?"

"You don't need to know." Ryan looked down at the ground. "I just want to tell him I need time off."

"Time off? Is something on your mind? You can tell me; I'm willing to listen to you."

"Yes, something is bothering me, but are you sure?"

Grace nodded her head and laid both of her hands on his shoulders. "Tell me what's going on with you. I'll tell him myself."

"No, don't do that. He needs to know by me actually telling him, because I don't have to rely on everyone to do things for me."

"Well, okay, I won't tell him, but you can still tell me, right?"

He sighed and stared up at Grace. "It's just that...my little sister went missing for a while, and I received something in the mail this morning. Mom and Dad were out during their wedding anniversary, and they trusted me to be home alone, but as my sister suddenly went missing, they were already scrambling back home once they heard the news. I just got a letter from a DNA laboratory, and...that little girl named Sarah that was found dead...matched up to my family's genetics. She was my sister, and now, she's been murdered by some animatronic or whatever has been killing these people around town!"

Grace took her hands off him and never found any words to say.

"Anyways, where is our boss? I need to tell him that I want a break after hearing about Sarah."

She frowned at him. "Ryan, I...I'm sorry to hear that. I remember running into her body one night, but I didn't know she was your sister. Considering you're newer here to Fredbear's, and we're still a little bit of strangers to each other, I also never knew you had a sibling. I'm...really sorry, though."

"It's okay, Grace. Don't be fretting about it."

"I mean, if you do want someone to talk to, just call me or my new friend, Sofia. She's studying to be a psychologist, so she's great with giving mental health tips, just if you're ever feeling down."

"Thanks for that, Grace, but I'll be fine." Ryan blinked a few times, trying not to cry. "Well, don't worry about you helping me; I'll find our boss myself, and you just go do your work. See you around."

Grace watched in silence as he walked around her, not saying anything else as well, soon leaving her all by herself.


	38. Chapter 38

Matthew kept his eyes on some of the unfamiliar people in the same room as he was in. He heard that Grace called them up to meet up with her before the Nightmares were going to be active, but unfortunately, only one person thought she was crazy and did not go to meet her. 

The buzzing and flickering lights in the semi-dark room made Matthew feel a sense of fear. He wasn't sure if him being terrified was because of how the room was set up at the moment, or if it was because midnight was near and the Nightmares would be out soon. He only sat back further in his chair.

Grace noticed him appearing anxious, and she walked over to him. "Look, I know some of these people are complete strangers to you, but I trust and respect them enough that they should be with us. We need to figure out if the SWAT officers want us to help them before midnight hits, but whether they want to or not, we will leave Fredbear's once that clock hits 12, and we'll go from there."

He kept glancing around the diner. "It sure looks scary after it's closed. Did your boss allow this?"

"Yes, I asked him before I left for the day. He was a bit weirded out by the idea, but he didn't dare to argue with me." She stared up at the clock, which read 20 minutes until midnight, and laid her eyes on everyone. "Alright, it's the fifth night Matthew and I have dealt with these monsters. Anyone else feeling as scared as I am? I was always thinking that I can outrun these animatronics, but it seems like they get more aggressive as the nights go on. I'm really starting to think if I may die."

Amber sat down in a chair in the party room and started to chew on a piece of gum. "I'm feeling adrenaline--sort of in a way like I'm excited."

"Good to know, Amber." Grace shook her head at her and smiled. "Good to know that you're more courageous than I am."

Sofia had her knife in her hands and started to play with it, leaning her feet on the table. "I mean, what are we going to do? We can't hide out here all night, because they'll find us."

"Well, before we go out, let me make sure you guys are all here--Elijah, Matthew, Amber, Andrew, Elizabeth, Ryan, Sofia."

"Yeah, that's me." Sofia tapped the table to grab Amber's attention. "Hey, redhead. Give me a piece, please."

Grace sighed. "Of course, Lauren isn't here due to medical reasons; she's my friend if any of you are wondering. And my parents are going to meet us at another public place. They have to take public transportation, though--like I have been doing before work lately--because that Nightmare Chica bitch destroyed our only car. I can't remember what the place was that they'll be at; it was like some...stadium or something. Crap!"

"I called mine as well." Amber blew a bubble with her gum. "They'll meet us there, too, and yes, it's the one stadium downtown."

"My parents don't give a shit where I'm at." Sofia bit into a piece of gum that Amber gave her. "They be calling me 'psycho' and all that. Man, am I feeling badass tonight, knowing I may get to fight a Nightmare! Gonna be sick!"

"That's...a bit dangerous, sweetie," Elizabeth commented. "I think you're better off staying safe by not facing them. Leave that stuff to the officers."

"Suck it, you middle-aged lady! I don't care what you think!"

"Sofia...no." Grace frowned. "Just...don't say anything like that. Besides, I prefer you to be the smarter, nicer Sofia at this moment, not the psychotic, bad Sofia. I like how strong you want to be, but let your kind side out right now, okay? That's a former employee I work with that you're talking to."

Sofia rolled her eyes and fell into silence. 

Grace focused back on everyone in the room. "Anyways, keep in mind that we'll have to reach out to the federal officers if they want us to help them, since some of us know a lot about the animatronics. Not sure how we'll get in contact with one before midnight, but...someone just do it while I continue to talk."

"I'm on it; I'll go outside and look for a SWAT van!" Elijah exclaimed and rushed out of the room. "Be back in a bit!"

"Be in before midnight, or you're dead!" Amber called. "Don't want to be attacked by a Nightmare, right? Oh, that won't be fun!"

Grace cleared her throat, feeling a scratch in it. "Now, not to alarm all of you, but according to Matthew, there's another animatronic that will be loose tonight; supposedly, Nightmare Freddy told him this. Heard this new Nightmare has an extra mouth in his stomach, and...he may be more powerful than Freddy. I'm not sure who this animatronic is exactly, but maybe it could be a scary remodel of Fredbear. If this is a possibility, then we have a Nightmare Fredbear to deal with."

"Another animatronic?" Ryan asked and looked over at Matthew. "Nightmare Freddy really told you this, didn't he?"

Matthew nodded his head, not speaking.

"Wow. Now we have five animatronics to avoid." Ryan patted Matthew's shoulder. "Don't worry about this group of animatronics. You know that all of us are here to help and protect one another."

The child hugged his Fredbear plush tighter, still not saying anything.

Sofia chewed more of her gum with her mouth open. "If this 'Nightmare Fredbear' fella really is going to come out tonight, we'll need to inform the SWAT officers. Of course they need to know!"

"Yes, you're right, Sofia," Grace replied. "We will need to let them know, just so they have an idea on how many animatronics we're really dealing with. As of now, they only know that there are four of the Nightmares.

"Oh, and by the way--" She pointed at Sofia. "--you have any ideas on how we can lure the Nightmares into some 'trap' where the officers can get them, or if we have to destroy them ourselves? I'm considering leaving Nightmare Freddy alone for now, because he can speak to us, and he'll be a great tool for finding out who built him and his friends."

"I was discussing the same thing with Matthew earlier today, believe it or not!" Sofia adjusted herself in the chair. "But a trap for the animatronics? I'm not really sure."

Grace lowered her arm. "Well, hurry up! We have less than 20 minutes!"

Sofia paused chewing and began to think. "I have one idea if we have to destroy the animatronics by ourselves."

"Tell me."

"Oh, I was thinking that...one of us lure an animatronic in a...certain way."

"Certain way? What do you mean?"

"You know--" Sofia grinned and began to mess with her clothes, slightly taking off her jacket off at first in a seductive way. "--some nice stuff like this to get the male Nightmares watching, while others in this group set something to destroy them."

Grace immediately realized what she meant. "Oh, uh...no, not doing that--not one bit! Look, Sofia, I like the idea of somehow using popular things today to lure the male animatronics, but there's no way I'm acting like that towards damn robots! It wouldn't even work anyways, and if it did, they'd be 'hypnotized' for just a plain second! They're animatronics, and we're people! They may be surprised or confused by seeing that stuff for the first time, but that's just a bit...weird. Save that for Nightmare Freddy's friends, though, if you're doing that odd thing, because he'll know right away that you're just tricking him; he's too smart for that stuff. Moving on! Anyone have better ideas that won't make me cringe?"

"I was just trying to think of something that could've worked," Sofia mumbled and placed her jacket back on. "Don't need to get angry with me."

Andrew glanced over at her. "Yeah, you're insane for thinking that a human girl could seduce some killer animatronic by undressing in front of him or whatever she'd do. I hate to say this, but none of us have been thinking that; that's how much of a weird idea it is. Like Grace mentioned, if it did work, it'll only work temporarily. I mean, have you been watching too many X-rated videos lately or something?"

"No," Sofia told him. "I'm just a freak--that's all."

"But if you're seducing someone, you're luring them in for--God...get out of here, Sofia."

"What?"

"Leave, please. You...are just plain crazy. I normally don't disrespect women like this, but you are really a bit insane. There is obviously something up with your mind if you're into that stuff."

"Into it? I was just thinking of it as a trap."

"It's just odd, though."

Amber stared at the two of them. "Wait, what is odd? Nevermind--I heard. Weird, but I also find that hilarious. Yeah, get out of here, psycho!"

"Hold on a minute!" Grace yelled and lowered her voice. "Amber, shut up. Andrew, I appreciate your honesty about being respectful to women, but don't get all moody with her. Sofia, I may have gotten angry with you myself, and I'm sorry, but I still find the idea strange. Go ahead and do it, if you think it'll work, but...I don't know. I'm still a bit creeped out by it."

"But anything at this point could work, though," Ryan added. "Just let Sofia do her thing. I know how ridiculous and weird it sounds, but she said that she's doing it as a trap--nothing else. I'm not sure how the animatronics think, but the male ones especially may still be surprised by a human girl doing that sort of thing, kind of like when us human guys see it. The Nightmares may not fall for it, as they're too smart--like what Grace said--but it may just distract them for a bit if another one of us wants to quietly sneak an explosive or something on them."

"I mean, I don't mind the concept of distracting the animatronics somehow, but what will they think when they see a human girl randomly getting into her underwear?" Grace asked, looking over at Ryan, but she eventually stared at the rest of the group. "Will they ignore her and continue their attack? Will they actually be distracted? If they are distracted, I can tell you that they'll probably just stand there and examine a girl; I guarantee that's all they'll do. This won't work on Nightmare Freddy, though--as I said--because if any one of us girls tried it, it seems like he'll go ahead and still attack us. Also, if Sofia tries it, Nightmare Freddy can't be around; I've heard that he would try to inform his friends if he feels there is some sort of trap he may notice, which then his friends would know, and they'll try to avoid it themselves."

Sofia smiled and raised her hand up. "I'm feeling risky. I call this new animatronic! I'll try to lure him! Wait, no. Give me Foxy!"

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really like the idea, but I could try. Let me handle that bunny--whatever his name is."

"Alright. And Nightmare Freddy isn't an option. I'm not doing this myself, so one of you may also have to try to trick the new Nightmare." Grace sighed, still feeling weirded out by the idea. "Sofia has Nightmare Foxy, and Amber has Nightmare Bonnie. We'll just have to figure out when would be a good time to attempt this...trick."

"Hey, this may all work." Sofia continued to chew her gum with her mouth open. "Sometimes, I manipulate the manipulative. What can I say?"

"You're one hell of a girl, Sofia; I can tell you that." Ryan laughed. 

"Yes, we all know the Nightmares can be manipulative." Grace shook her head. "Nightmare Freddy is really good at it; he made me think I'm nothing, and it worked. Don't feed me all these 'Oh no, don't listen to him; you're not worthless' comments, because I don't deserve them now, okay? Just as a note, too, that Nightmare Bonnie and Foxy may be easier to manipulate back--and Freddy would be a huge challenge--so...I don't know, Sofia; your crazy idea may work. Anyways, we have almost exactly 15 minutes now. Can we talk about something other than seducing robotic killers? Let's focus on Nightmare Freddy's friends for now, as we're not going to worry about him."

Elizabeth stood up from her chair and began to walk around the room. "I was thinking that we could maybe lure them into the SWAT officers' trap by having them chase us. Not sure if this is a good idea; it was just something I came up with in a minute. Sounds dangerous, though."

"It does, honestly," Grace told her. "Unless...if we go with that plan with the officers, maybe each one of us gets in our own cars and drives different ways to the same place, just so that each one of the animatronics would chase down different vehicles; we'd need to get them after us, though, first. You get what I'm saying? Let's say I ride with Andrew and Matthew and the rest of you get into your own cars. We'll all have a place figured out, along with the officers knowing as well, and in Andrew's car, let's say that Nightmare Foxy is chasing us. We'll have him follow us, while Nightmare Bonnie, Chica, and the newer animatronic chases the rest of you, and we all meet at the same area with the officers ready to act. Then, we escape the area as they soon explode the Nightmares. I don't know--all of these ideas that we're thinking of sound crazy and ridiculous, even I think this sounds like a stupid idea, but like Ryan said, anything could work at this point."

"How about we get that Freddy bastard captured first, just so he's not ruining our plans?" Andrew asked. "You did say he would warn his friends if he felt that something was wrong."

"Hey, hey! I want to jump in and say something!" Amber clapped her hands multiple times. "There are four girls and four guys here. Why don't some of us worry about getting some of the Nightmares destroyed, while the rest of us worry about getting Nightmare Freddy captured? We both have our own groups, and we can do two things at once."

"That's another way of saying we should split up," Grace said. "Amber, this isn't a horror movie; this is reality. We're better off staying safe with each other."

"Well, yes, but--"

"Redhead, stop it!" Sofia hollered. "She clearly said we're better off staying safe as long as we're together! I think it's a good opportunity to work with one another and take out each animatronic one-by-one; we'd be a lot more careful with how we would take care of them."

"Taking care of multiple animatronics at once, though, is a lot quicker." Amber glanced at Sofia. "Whatever we do, Nightmare Freddy would have to be taken care of first, if he really would get in our way of our plans. It's not that hard to have half of us try to get him captured, while the other half gets the rest of the animatronics destroyed. All of this would be over sooner, and besides, wouldn't one of the animatronics find out one of their friends is being set up and run off from us? I don't think all of the Nightmares would separate, except Nightmare Freddy since he can handle being on his own, so obviously one of the Nightmares would know that there is something going on. That's why I say...we're better off taking care of all of them at once."

"You're full of insane ideas, redhead. If we don't get all of them tonight or tomorrow, that's okay. You know that we still have these other days to get them."

"Look, can we just at least get Nightmare Freddy first?" Amber laid her eyes on the group. "Once he's out of the way, we don't have to worry about him warning his friends about suspicious traps. By the way--" She pointed at Sofia. "--don't call me 'redhead.' I do have a name."

"Sorry. I don't speak through French accents, redhead; I couldn't hear you." Sofia adjusted her sitting position. "This name I am calling you now is fun to say. I really like it."

Amber nervously and angrily sighed. "Anyways, whose plan are we going with, or does someone else have something better?"

Sofia took her feet off the table. "I still think it makes sense to take care of every animatronic one-by-one. The slower we go, the more likely the animatronics will be forever gone for sure. Amber's plan just screams out danger."

"At least everything will be done quicker if we do multiple things at once!" Amber yelled, also moving her feet off the table. "Sofia just wants the other animatronics to easily find out we're trying to destroy them--"

"No, no, redhead! Listen!" Sofia interrupted, speaking over Amber's last few words. "If we take our time, we'll know that the Nightmares are destroyed for good! We'll be cautious, too, if we go with my plan--"

Amber began to talk back over Sofia as she finished up her sentence. "My name is Amber, you psycho, and we'll be in danger either way! Don't you want all this madness to end sooner or later? We're saving more people if we go with my plan--"

"Hey, hey! Shut up, you French bitch! I don't give a damn about how much of a hero you'd be with your 'special plan' that will kill us easily! You want us killed or something--"

After a short, heated argument of the girls yelling over one another, Amber jumped up from her chair and threw her chair at Sofia, which easily missed her, and she stared at Amber in shock. "Call me a 'bitch' again, you psycho! You really want to insult me for trying to come up with a good plan if we have to take care of the Nightmares? I at least care about the people of this town, while your vain ass wants to worry about us--only us, according to you--being safe! I'd die for all these people, and you're just sitting here, saying that we should wait and allow more people to be killed, as we also 'try our best' to not get our own selves killed? Are you that much of a heartless retard? Are you? We will be in danger either way, but with my plan, not as many people will be in danger if we don't let the animatronics run off!"

Grace saw Matthew getting scared, and she hugged him.

Sofia watched as Amber ran over to her. "Sorry, but I can't hear you through that accent of yours."

Amber gritted her teeth together. "Yes, you can. You just don't want to hear what others have to say. Sorry, you lunatic, but criticism is a thing we all have to hear." 

Sofia crossed her arms. "Seems like you want to fight me, but I can easily break that petite body of yours, and you don't want that to happen, do you? If I were you, you should get out of my face. Now."

Amber shook her head in frustration and rushed out of the room, hitting her hands on the walls.

Grace stopped hugging Matthew and sighed. "Sofia, you do need to respect opinions. Can't be insulting or threatening other people just because you disagree with them."

"My bad, Grace." Sofia took multiple deep breaths and brushed off her clothes. "I got carried away. I'll apologize to her, but...I need some time to relax after what happened."

Matthew looked up at Grace. "Does Amber act like that a lot?"

"Only if someone really irritates her," she replied. "She's more of a happier girl, but she does lose her temper if someone tries hard to upset her."

He continued to hug his plush. 

"Anyways, we have less than 15 minutes!" Grace began to walk around the room. "Anyone else have any other ideas?"

There was only silence in the whole room.

"Okay, then how about we discuss how we'll get Nightmare Freddy into the federal officers' hands? Anyone know what we could do to get him captured?"

Sofia slowly raised her hand up as she sat down in a chair. 

"You need to be quiet for now!" Grace pointed at her, causing Sofia to put her hand down. "We don't need to hear from you!"

"Geez, okay then," Sofia said and stood up. "Now, since you don't want me to give you any other ideas, I'll just head into the bathroom and practice my trick for the Nightmares; I'll make it seem realistic and not over-dramatic."

"Yeah...whatever. Go ahead." Grace cringed from thinking about Sofia's idea.

Ryan sighed at Grace. "Was that huge discussion about luring the male Nightmares necessary? I get the concept is odd, but you know...we have to think of something to distract them. Not to sound like a jerk here, but sounds like you know a lot more about the animatronics than the whole FBI. It's risky, but I think it's good that we are trying to act in on the Nightmares with the officers."

"And I'm not going to lie, Ryan," Grace smirked at him. "This may be reality, but...I guess we can't escape the sexual aspects of any cheesy horror movie. Maybe you are right; maybe anything we could try, at this point, would work. Maybe Sofia will actually do something."

"It's worth a try."

Grace looked up at the clock and noticed the big hand was near the 10. "Alright. No one has other ideas, so let's go with a plan we already suggested. Elizabeth's plan sounds more effective to me, but I think it would be more useful on Nightmare Freddy's friends--wait, nevermind about what I said. How about...how about I just think of a last-minute plan for Freddy?"

"That is?" Elizabeth asked. 

"Hopefully, Elijah will get ahold of a SWAT vehicle with officers inside beforehand. We all go to meet each other at the downtown stadium before midnight, and if it becomes 12 AM, that's okay; we'll just continue. Any parents, siblings, friends, or other loved ones that are coming along will have to ride separately in some form of public transportation if they won't fit in the same vehicle. With our plan discussed to the SWAT team, we will hang out at the stadium for five minutes max to review what we have to do." Grace nervously tapped her foot on the floor. "Now, this is just a concept plan. I think we should have me dropped off somewhere; it doesn't matter if the place has people--though I prefer a more isolated place--and you all drive off to another block or anywhere nearby, but also don't be completely in the area. The SWAT officers will hide in a dark place where--although he is smart--Nightmare Freddy would not even find them at all. I try to make myself vulnerable to him, and once he shows up, all the officers suddenly jump out at him and catch him. We'll make sure they have special weapons and stuff with them, so he doesn't try to escape. I know that he has been going solo on a killing spree lately, so this is also a great time. Any changes you think this plan may need, tell me before we get to the stadium. For now--" She clapped her hands twice. "--let's go and get this done!"

Elizabeth opened the door leading to the main area of the diner. "I'll go get Sofia and let her know we're leaving. I'll be out."

"Alright, Elizabeth. You go do that." Grace held her hand in Matthew's and looked down at him. "Come on, Matthew."

The whole group exited the room and the diner, and Grace was relieved to see five SWAT officers talking to Elijah and Amber. Grace immediately ran over to the officers, and they stopped speaking as soon as they saw her.

"Hello there," an officer told her. "I see you're trying to get these animatronics taken care of with our help, right?"

"Yes." She nodded her head. "I figured since Matthew and I know a little bit about them, you guys could help us. I have a concept plan figured out on how we could at least capture one of them tonight. This Freddy counterpart is the only one that talks, and I thought he'd be useful for finding out who built him and his friends if you guys caught him and took him somewhere. I'm more worried about leaving him unharmed, while his friends would be the ones getting destroyed."

"Sure thing. We are here to help protect the people; that's our job. Also, I do believe we have a special facility to keep this Freddy fella in, but I'd rather much say where it is when we have the time and privacy, as it is government territory. I will save this special conversation with you, since you have knowledge about these monsters." The officer glanced around for a moment. "Anyways, is there any place we should go to by any chance or something? Should we stay here?"

"For now, let's meet at the stadium. There's only one in the downtown area, so...yeah, just all meet there and talk about this plan for a few minutes. My parents will also be there, and I don't know about these other guys' loved ones, but I'm pretty sure they called them up to also have them come. Let's try to get there before midnight, and if we don't, that is fine. By the way, are you all armed really well? The animatronic we're catching is the toughest out of the rest."

"Armed with weapons, bombs, tear gas, and other tools I don't think we don't use that much. I believe we are well prepared."

"Okay. I'm just making sure."

The officer soon walked back towards the driver's side of the van, waiting to see if the other officers were getting in. "I'll wait until you and your group leave and escort you there, ma'am. And for everyone else-" He laid his eyes on the rest of the group. "--I will just drive near all your vehicles with the sirens on! Please don't speed and drive ahead of us! If you fall behind, we'll wait!"

"What about red lights and all that? Should I still obey those?"

"At this time, I'll allow you to go 10 to 15 miles above the normal speed limit," he told her. "Don't have to stop at red lights, but obviously be careful of pedestrians and other vehicles when coming to those stops."

"Of course." Grace smiled at the officer and made her way towards Andrew's Corvette. "Everyone ready to leave?"

Andrew opened the door to his car and got in it. "Seems like Sofia and Elizabeth are out; I know we had to wait a bit on them."

"Cool." Grace kept looking around the parking lot. "I think everyone is ready. Get in, Matthew."

Matthew slowly climbed into the middle of the sports car and adjusted himself to get comfortable. Grace got in after him and closed the door behind her. She soon rolled down the window and made a hand gesture out the window to remind everyone else that they were ready to leave. 

Not too long later, all three vehicles left the parking lot, and each drove next to the SWAT van, which had its sirens and lights on. Nearby cars on the opposite side pulled over as the van passed by them. 

Grace felt a wave of anxiety hit her as the sound of the Corvette roared loudly down the roads and the SWAT van rumbled its near deafening sirens near the car. She wondered if this plan would work, but she also feared that it might not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was rushed, so if there are any mistakes I missed, feel free to point them out!
> 
> Also, I was tired when I wrote most of this chapter, so sorry if the things written here are cringy. I never came up with a decent idea for my characters to distract the animatronics, so I chose the first thing I thought of. 😂


	39. Chapter 39

Michael impatiently stood close to a nearby bar, waiting for Grace to answer the phone. He gripped the payphone in his hand and glanced over at his three friends, who all seemed impatient as well.

"I'm sorry, guys!" Michael exclaimed. "I've tried so many times, but she isn't answering!"

Ethan sighed as his friend angrily placed the phone back on its stand. "Why are you even calling her if you two recently broke up? You're wasting your money for nothing, man."

"Shut the hell up." Michael shook his head. "I'm trying to call her, because I know it's near midnight and these monsters come out soon. Can't I check up on her?"

"I just find it funny you're not calling your little brother. Don't you think that crybaby might be more important to you?"

"Fuck no. You know that psycho I told you about--Sofia? She made me apologize to him, but I honestly won't listen to someone who is long overdue for a mental hospital visit. Never will I feel sorry for Matthew."

"Didn't you say that if she found out you're still bullying him, she'd kill you?" Joshua asked him. 

"Yes, but she's a woman, Joshua. I'm not going to feel afraid of some chick who thinks she's tough and all that. If it was a guy who was threatening me, sure I may feel a little more scared."

Ethan formed his hands in fists. "I may hate children, just because they cry all the time, but I don't despise girls! You don't talk about women like that, dude! Sexist!"

Michael laughed. "How am I seixst?"

"You clearly said, 'But she's a woman. I'm not going to listen to some chick who thinks she's tough. I'd be scared if it was a guy threatening me.' If that doesn't sound like you have something against girls, then I don't know what else is considered 'seixst.'"

"I don't see what you're talking about."

"You're basically saying that women are weaker--all of them. News flash! Not all of them are weak!"

"Alright, man, you're just sounding like some feminist."

Ethan felt the urge to hit Michael. "No, I just care about girls! I know I'm much more of a gentleman than you!"

"Shut it! Let's drop this argument before it goes too far; otherwise, if you escalate this problem...you'll get it!"

"Going to beat me up for my opinions on women? Sure. Okay. What a retarded comment you made there." Ethan covered his mouth, walking away, and mumbled under his breath. "Sexist."

Noah stepped into the conversation. "Um, excuse me. I have a random question--why do we sometimes keep meeting each other in front of a bar at night? We drinking? Getting laid? What?"

Michael chuckled. "Noah, as much as I'd love a drink and a girl, I'm worried about these animatronic bastards right now, and I'm seeing if Grace is okay. Beforehand, I always went to different bars just for a drink, but there's obviously something else I'm fearful of. Well, I guess drinks solve my stress, so there's a reason. Besides, not to hate, but no girl will go home with an inexperienced guy like you. 

"Also, I never told you this, but you're literally the male version of Grace's one friend, Amber, except you don't have the accent and all that other stuff. Sometimes, you're just too excited over things, even in stressful situations, that it's really cringy. I'll at least give you credit for not being as psychotic as she is; she goes full Satan mode if you really upset her, and you don't. Now, tell me that doesn't remind me of her when I see you. Oh, I can't imagine you two dating, and I don't want to."

"I thought Sofia was the one that goes into this 'Satan mode' when she's angered, not Amber!" Ethan yelled. 

Noah ignored him. "Is Amber inexperienced like I am? If we did get together for some fun, we'd both experience some action for the first time."

"I mean, if you want to try to sleep with her, go right ahead, but I'm not helping you with some ways to win a girl." Michael crossed his arms. "You two may be a good match anyways--same age, nearly the same personality, and she's probably a virgin like you. Sounds accurate. I just don't want to imagine what cringy things you two would do."

"Virgin? Stop it with that term. I prefer 'inexperienced,' thank you very much."

"Sure, smartass. 'Virgin' is a lot easier and shorter to say, though."

After multiple attempts at using coins to pay for a phone call, Michael still did not get any answers. He slammed the phone back on the stand and groaned.

"No answer? Sucks to be abandoned." Ethan tried to hold back his laughter. 

"You need to be quiet, Ethan! I'm getting sick of your comments!" Michael hollered. "If you say one more thing to me again, even just a word, you're really getting it!"

Ethan silently shrugged his shoulders and turned away from him. 

Michael took out more coins and kept trying to call Grace, but he still never received an answer from her.

"Isn't this like your 15th time trying to call her?" Joshua asked. "Give up. If she's not going to call you back, there's no point in continuing to try."

"I need to make sure she's okay, though!" Michael punched the phone stand. "Whatever. She probably picked up at some point, but I could not hear her. This thing doesn't work anyways!"

"No, it's not the phone; Grace obviously isn't available right now. Leave it be, man. Why don't you just leave her alone? She is your ex, and there is a thing called 'moving on.'"

"And there's a thing called 'I still love her.'"

A few minutes passed, and all four of the boys noticed a SWAT van driving slowly next to three different cars. A hand popped out of the sports car, reminding the other vehicles about something. The van and cars started to slow down as they each got closer to Michael and his friends.

Michael walked towards the sports car and saw Grace sitting inside of it. "Grace? You there? Oh, I see it's you! Who's that man with you? Is he your new boyfriend?"

"Chill out. He's not a boyfriend at all." She exited the car and closed the door behind her, sighing as she got closer to Michael. "Anyways, just noticed you were hanging out here with your friends, and I wanted to say something--not that you care, because I don't think you do."

"Of course I care. What is it you need to say?" 

Grace smiled and rolled her eyes at his reply. "Well, I wanted to say...goodbye. This may be the last time I'll see you."

Michael hesitated. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, I have a group with me right now, followed by a team of federal officers, and we're going after a Nightmare tonight. Not that you know a lot about these animatronics, but the one we're targeting is the leader of all of them; he is the only one that can talk, he is the strongest, and he is also more aggressive. What we're doing is risky, and I'm a part of this plan to help capture this animatronic. Like I said, I may die tonight, or I won't, but I have a feeling I definitely will, so...goodbye, Michael."

There was a bit of silence between them, but Grace broke it by giving Michael a quick kiss on the cheek. 

"I mean, I still hate you, but...I might as well say farewell to you." Grace turned away and walked back towards the car. "Whatever you do, don't turn me back around and make me fully kiss you! That 'goodbye kiss' shit from the movies is not happening to me, so back off!"

"Alright. Fine." Michael placed his hands in his pockets. "I won't then."

Grace stood still and stared at him. "You were planning on it, weren't you? So cheesy."

Michael ran over to the car as soon as Grace got in, leaning his hands on the door. "Grace, I never thought about how dangerous this would be, knowing that you would need a SWAT team with you. I would beg for you not to do this, but...I'll say that I wish you luck, and I hope you don't die. You may not notice, but I still care for you and your safety, but try your best, and if you do die, at least you died for all these citizens in danger."

"That's what I would be remembered for! You read my mind! Anyways, I need to go." Grace looked over at Andrew. "Let's continue to the stadium, Andrew."

Michael backed up as she motioned the other vehicles to move, and he--in fear--watched as all of them drove away. The SWAT van, which had its sirens off temporarily, switched them back on, and Michael listened as the sirens became more distant.

"Ouch," Noah commented. "She still hates you. It must suck to have a girl you still love that continues to avoid you."

"Be quiet, Noah, or I'll do the same thing to you as I will do to Ethan if he says anything!"

"Okay then. I'll shut up. I was just saying, though."

Michael walked towards his car and opened the door to it. "Look, you all can go home or do whatever--just don't die--but I'm following Grace and these other vehicles. I thought I was cool with her risking her life, but I'm really concerned. You guys won't interfere with us, so stay away; this is my ex, and I should be the one paying her a short visit."

"Are you sure about this?" Joshua followed him to his car. "I think Grace should do her own thing without you in the way."

"Like I said, man, she's my ex, not yours. You never met her in high school. You never dated her. You never slept with her a few times. You never broke up with her. Let me handle this myself."

Joshua stepped away from the vehicle. "Alright. I'll let you do your thing. Now, I'll just figure out what me, Noah, and Ethan want to do."

"These monsters are real; I've seen one of them with my own eyes." Michael entered his car and started it up. "Be safe, guys, okay? I don't want you all to die."

"We'll be fine; don't worry about us, Michael." Joshua patted his shoulder through the open window.

"I mean, the one I encountered seemed to not mind me for some reason; he left me alone. But just in case, you all better protect yourselves. I'll see you around...hopefully."

* * *

"Is everyone through with this plan?" Grace asked as she finished up explaining her plan. 

One SWAT officer loaded his gun. "You basically make yourself vulnerable to this monster, and we hide out where he can't see us? Then, we go ahead and all capture him?"

"Yes, that's basically it. Everyone else will need to hide out somewhere--not exactly in the area, but not too far from it either." Grace turned to look at Amber, and she threw a flashlight at her. "Go see if Nightmare Freddy or his friends are around this area. We don't want any of them finding out what we're doing."

Amber, who caught the flashlight, nervously stared back at Grace. "By myself?"

"No, not by yourself. Go with Sofia."

Sofia rolled her eyes once she heard Grace mention her.

"I'll go with them for safety purposes," another SWAT officer said and stepped in front of them. "Let's have a look around, ladies."

"Are you young or something?" Sofia asked the officer as the three walked away from the group. "I can't see your whole face behind that mask, but for an officer sent out by the FBI, you sound hot."

"I appreciate the compliment, ma'am, but I'm trying to stay professional here," he replied. "Please let me do my job without you trying to distract me."

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry. That was my fault I said that."

Grace crossed her arms. "We should wait for them."

"I think that would make a ton of sense," one officer commented. "We obviously can't leave them here."

Another officer began to talk in his radio. "This is Alexander. About to target an animatronic with a team of five. Please hold on any action until we catch him; we don't want the others finding out. Make sure citizens are well protected. Report any found bodies to the whole unit and note that location, as we'd know there will be an animatronic there."

"Alexander? That your first name?" Grace felt her mom patting her back.

"Last name," he told her. "Call me by that name, because calling me by my first name sounds a bit unprofessional."

"Okay, Alexander. I will just call you that."

"Hold on a second." Alexander soon talked back into his radio after hearing another officer speaking to him. "This animatronic is more dangerous than the rest. Will call for help if we need it, but for now, everything is all clear. If you see an animatronic with the unit split up and searching every neighborhood, don't do anything, as--like mentioned--the others will find out, and they'll run off. Copy?"

"Got it," another officer through the radio replied.

Alexander looked back at Grace. "Sorry about that."

"You're fine. No need to apologize." Grace gently took Janice's hand off her back. "Please, no more, Mother."

"Now, where will we go to capture this 'Nightmare Freddy' guy?" he asked her. "Any specific place?"

"I prefer somewhere a bit isolated where not a lot of people hang out at."

"Should we head out of town? There's a lot of countryside scenery there. Would you rather stay in town instead? Normally, we do everything ourselves, but this is your own plan, Miss, so do whatever you want, and we'll go along with it."

"How about you just follow me? Also, when you go to attack him, I'll give out some kind of a warning; I won't make the warning too obvious, though."

"What kind of warning is that?"

"Hm, how about when Nightmare Freddy is about to 'kill' me--I'll tell him I want to be murdered--you all just jump out and get him. Though he is intelligent, Nightmare Freddy won't see that I have you guys with me; he'll think I'm really alone."

Alexander glanced over at the other officers. "Should we practice a couple times before we head out? Grace here says that we must all tackle Nightmare Freddy at once when she gives us a warning. Better off doing it at the right time."

"And make sure you tie him up or do something to keep him from attacking you all."

"Yes, we have that sort of tool." Another SWAT officer pulled out a long rope, which appeared to be made out of rubber or some other strong material. "This is one of the stuff we don't use a lot, but this rope should hold him. It looks like it's a weak material, but it's stronger than you think."

"Probably should double up on that just to be sure. He's strong as hell."

"We'll keep that in mind." Alexander stared over at the officer standing next to him. "Sinclair, we need to practice real quick. Radio Officer Taylor and see if he's ready. We have three minutes to be ready to leave. Whether or not Taylor is done checking around this area with those two young ladies, we need to practice a couple times. We don't want this animatronic to run away if we fail this plan."

"On it," Sinclair told him and placed his face near the radio, pressing a button. "Officer Taylor, are you there? We need you back for some practice."

A few seconds of silence occurred until his radio buzzed with distortion. A faint voice soon left the radio, saying, "Area is clear. No animatronics in sight. We'll be right over."

Sinclair turned back towards Alexander. "May already be past midnight, but we do need to hurry. Taylor needs to get back here as soon as possible."

Another wave of silence struck, and Taylor suddenly appeared out of the darkness with Amber and Sofia. He placed his gun in a weapon carrier on his back.

"I'm here," he said. "What do we need to practice?"

"We're going to capture an animatronic." Alexander placed his gun on his back as well. "We have something we could use in place of this animatronic for practice?"

"Is practice even necessary? We are trained professionals, and I can't tell you how many times I managed to fight the toughest people."

"We all do that, but this is a robot, not a human. Grace also mentioned that he's stronger than a lot of people, so we have to make sure he doesn't escape or try to murder us." Alexander looked down at his chest. "I mean, we do have armor, but supposedly, he's so smart that he may try to rip off our armor when he sees it; Grace here said that he is not dumb at all, so he may try to pull that trick. All of us need to make sure we tackle him at the same time. Five grown men against one animatronic should be enough, but if we need help, we'll call for it."

Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "Fine then."

Alexander faced himself towards one of the other officers. "We may have something in there to calm him down, because he may get crazy. Check if we have something the van to...'sedate' him. Normal sedation products won't work, so see if there is something that may temporarily shut down an animatronic."

"I love how you say we're going to 'sedate' an animatronic. People normally use that term towards animals--real ones." The officer chuckled and nodded his head, soon opening the back of the van and climbing inside of it. "So far, I don't see anything."

"Well, you just got in there. Continue checking, and hurry up."

Taylor sighed. "I still don't think we need to practice. Don't we have enough skills?"

Alexander raised his hands in mid-air. "Alright, let's not practice then. You're right."

"Did I...really say something to make you upset? I'm sorry, Alexander, but we do have enough tactical skills, enough that this plan should be easy."

"No, I'm not upset." Alexander placed his hands back at his sides. "Anyways, we're waiting on Officer Aldea to find something to use on Nightmare Freddy."

Aldea eventually jumped out of the van with a glass container in his hand. "Didn't take me long, but I found this."

"What is that? I don't remember seeing that."

"It's...something I don't know the name of, but it says here that it's some sedation thing. This looks to be made out of some gel material with chemicals in it, but it still appears as if it's water, though it's really not." Aldea took a closer look at the container. "Not sure if this will work on Nightmare Freddy. Calming down an animatronic without breaking him apart will be hard, but let's hope when we insert this, it does mess with his system and make him a little calmer."

"Of course it may not work the same way as on animals and people, because he's a damn animatronic, but maybe his body won't agree with it somehow. Let's try it, though, and let's insert it through his head. It may actually mess with his thinking process and all that, like maybe this will glitch that out. Not sure if he's waterproof--if he wasn't, water would easily shock him--but if that liquid substance has no water in it, and he can't stand other liquids, he probably won't be invulnerable to that."

"Worth a try, but I don't think it'll work," Aldea said and tightly held onto the container. "Well, how much should we give him?"

"However much can fill up a dropper should be enough." Alexander laughed. "I just realized--how did we suddenly have a liquid sedative in there? I can't remember if we had to use it on someone beforehand."

"There was that psycho drug dealer that we had to catch--the one that provided dangerous drugs to tons of people. We were called out to get him, because he kept escaping the local and state police. Remember that? I think we used this on him."

Taylor sighed. "I remember that for sure; that criminal was on the run, and it took a manhunt to catch him. Now, that guy was a criminal, but I'm wondering...are these animatronics we're after considered 'criminals?' They are murdering people after all."

"Technically, no," Alexander told him. "They're just killer machines built by someone; the real criminal here is their creator. The animatronics are his or her 'helpers' in killing all of these people, which we'll destroy them except Nightmare Freddy, and hunt down this person after everything is done. We will catch Nightmare Freddy, though, and transport him to a facility; I guess that's like him...being taken to some prison? Only when we keep him held, he'll be unable to escape if we keep him tied up or something, and we'll force him to tell us who built him and his friends. If he doesn't tell us, we'll keep him there every day. Afterwards, if he ever admits who built him and the other animatronics, I don't know what we'll do with him. Anyways, forget this random conversation. They are just animatronics, okay? They are not criminals."

Aldea held the sedative tighter in his hands. "Should we go ahead and head out?"

"Yeah! Let's go ahead and do this!" Alexander walked towards the driver's side of the van. "Everyone, follow Grace! She will lead us!"

* * *

Grace nervously stepped out of the Corvette, and Matthew watched her in fear as she walked over to the edge of a bridge she was standing on. She laid her hands on the railing and looked around, giving a thumbs up to everyone. 

"It's isolated enough here!" she called. "We're still in town, but it's not like we are anywhere near the busier areas of this town either! Perfect! Now, you all go drive a road or two down! Do not come to me until the officers say so!"

Andrew--who was over looking at her--smiled and nodded his head at her, driving off and having the other vehicles follow him. However, the SWAT van pulled off onto the grass near the bridge to be closer to Grace. The van parked and completely turned everything off--the engine, sirens, and headlights. Grace watched as the officers quietly got out of the van, got a few tools, and stood behind a group of some trees, making themselves less visible; even Grace could no longer see them. 

She stood with her back against the bridge and glanced around, keeping an eye out for Nightmare Freddy. Grace began to whistle on purpose, trying her best to make herself vulnerable, and she also turned on both of her monitors.

After a moment of standing in one place, she paced back and forth against the bridge to speed up her heart rate. Her BP monitor soon beeped slowly, yet loudly, at her.

Becoming impatient as a few minutes passed by, Grace started to call out for Nightmare Freddy, saying some comments about him in hopes of luring him to where she was.

"Come on, Freddy! I'm here! You want to kill me or not? You're right about everything--about me being worthless and whatever else! Just kill me, please; I don't want to live anymore!"

Grace crossed her arms and kept looking around, not seeing anything in the darkness. More minutes passed by, and there was still no sign of Nightmare Freddy anywhere.

She eventually noticed a pair of orange glowing eyes slowly moving towards her. Grace held in the need to scream, and she allowed the glowing eyes to get closer.

Nightmare Freddy soon was right in front of her, staring into her eyes with a sinister look on his face. He tilted his head and softly growled at her.

"Nice to see you again, Freddy! Well, what are you waiting for?" Grace forced herself to cry to make her trick seem realistic. "I'm done with everything! Finish me off!"

He laughed evilly at her. "Needing to die all of a sudden? What changed your mind?"

"Everything, Freddy. You are right about me being worthless and a bitch. You are right about me needing to be killed, just so you can get Matthew. Just...everything with me and you. Go ahead and do it."

"Nothing sounds more satisfying than a victim completely giving up." Nightmare Freddy lightly wrapped his hand around her neck. "Now, this is your choice. You want to die in agony, or must I give you a peaceful death like back at the hospital? I never let my victims choose, but you are someone special, so I will let you decide."

"What if I want a death with agony? What will you do to me then?"

"I may just stab and cut you multiple times and throw you off this bridge. Sounds painful and terrifying, right?"

Grace nodded her head.

"So, Grace, what is your choice? I'm giving you a minute."

All of a sudden, all five SWAT officers jumped out of their hidden area and, with no hesitation, tackled Nightmare Freddy. He tried to claw them as all of them quickly tied him up with their ropes, but two of them soon held his arms down.

"Officer Aldea, make sure his arms are at his sides when wrapping him up here; he won't try to attack us then!" Sinclair exclaimed, sitting on his knees and trying to keep Nightmare Freddy's mouth closed. "You and Officer Morgan have his arms?"

"Yes!" Aldea replied, keeping Nightmare Freddy's arm down, though he was fighting back by lifting his arm up.

"Taylor, help Aldea get his arm at his side, so we can tie him up!"

Taylor stopped holding Nightmare Freddy down by his legs and ran over next to Aldea, both men lowering his arm down. The animatronic tried to fight back, but before he could do anything, the rope was already tied around his arm and body on one side. 

"Now, his other arm! Help Morgan!" Sinclair, who then volunteered to keep the animatronic's legs down, struggled to keep Nightmare Freddy's mouth shut. "You keep it closed, you bastard!"

Alexander walked over to him with a dropper in his hand and bent down, setting his hand on Nightmare Freddy's forehead and letting the sedative go through a hole. He stood up, putting the dropper in his pocket, and helped to hold down the animatronic.

All officers successfully used some of their rope and finished tying up Nightmare Freddy. They watched as he kept struggling to break the rope.

"Alright, men! Back up for a second!" Sinclair started to let go of Nightmare Freddy. "Let's see if he can escape!"

Nightmare Freddy soon gave up after trying his best to break himself free. "You human fuckers caught me! Was this your plan, Grace? How dare you set me up!"

Grace laughed at him. "Maybe. Have fun in a facility, you robotic asshole!"

"Facility? Am I being held there or something? Fuck you, Grace! Fuck you! I should have killed you before these guys got me!"

"Someone has a sailor mouth," Alexander chuckled as he pulled out more strings of rope. "We will shut it up, though."

"Need help?" Morgan asked.

"A little help will be nice."

Morgan walked over to Alexander, and one of them held Nightmare Freddy's mouth closed, while the other began to wrap the rope around it. Soon enough, the animatronic could no longer speak, except he could only make sounds through his forcefully shut mouth.

"That was quite a fight, but we got him," Alexander said, sighing in relief and brushing his red hands together. "Also, I see the sedative didn't work. I figured it wouldn't."

Sinclair hovered over Nightmare Freddy. "You ready for a ride back to a government facility? We'll make sure you tell us who built you, and if you don't, you'll still be held captive. I bet you're wondering, too, what we'll do with your friends. We're thinking about destroying them, so you'll never see them again."

Nightmare Freddy angrily tried to break free, making more muffled sounds and moving around on the ground.

"Okay, let's get him in the back of the van," Alexander said, standing up. "I'm driving, and I'll let Grace's loved ones know that they can come back to this area. You all load him up, and I'll get ready to drive off."

He began to talk into his radio, confirming the capture of Nightmare Freddy. He allowed other SWAT officers to continue hunting down the other Nightmares.

All officers, except Alexander, lifted Nightmare Freddy off the ground and held his arms in case he would ever run off. He angrily stared back at Grace as the officers walked him to the van. She only smiled and waved in response.

Nightmare Freddy suddenly lunged towards her, causing her to jump in fear, and created more muffled sounds at her. All four officers kept him away from her by pulling him back. 

"Chill out, you bastard!" Aldea yelled. "She hasn't done anything to you!"

Nightmare Freddy rolled his eyes in silence as the officers proceeded to walk him to the SWAT vehicle. Grace watched as they loaded him in, with a couple officers getting in the back with him, and they began to close the doors. The other officers got in the van as well, and Alexander soon drove off. 

She kept on looking at the van and smiled, knowing that for now--in case she wanted to visit him in the facility--that was the last time she was ever going to encounter him.


	40. Chapter 40

Matthew ran all the way towards Grace--after the SWAT van drove off into the distance away from all of the cars--and immediately was picked up by her as soon as she saw him coming out from the darkness in front of her. As he felt himself being lifted off the ground, Grace held him with her arms wrapped around him. She began to cry more, hearing Matthew tear up as well, and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Oh, I thought I would have died, but it's all okay, Matthew!" Grace told him. "Nightmare Freddy is gone!"

"For good?" he mumbled.

"Yes, for good!" She fell silent as she continued to hug him and eventually set him down on the ground. "If you are wondering where he's going, he is being transported in a SWAT van back to some government facility. I'm not sure where it is, but it may be a few states south from Rhode Island. If that is the case, they have a long way to go with a vicious animatronic."

"Will he attack the officers?"

"I doubt it. They tied him up really good, and they even tried to use some substance that would get into the interior of his body and mess with his thinking process. It didn't work--of course--but I'm sure throughout the whole ride when he's active, he will settle down, even if the ride does take days."

"You don't know where this facility is?"

"It's a government thing, Matthew, so these officers never revealed the actual location. Considering that they were using me as a reference towards other officers for knowing information about the animatronics, I was told that I would know the location soon. If the location is revealed to me, I can't say it to others, and if I do, I think I'd be in trouble." She shrugged her shoulders. "It may be near where the president lives. It may be farther that that. It may be on the other side of the country. I don't know. If it's near where the president lives, I think that would make sense, because then he could go and visit Nightmare Freddy to see him for himself--ah, whatever. I am not really sure where it is."

Matthew dried his tears. "Will you visit him?"

"To have a long chat about what he has done to people around town, yes, but after all this nonsense is over. If I'm allowed into the facility, it would probably have to be only me, and I can't bring any visitors with me. I don't think you would want to see him anyways."

"No. Not at all."

"Yeah, I'm going to be the one who's visiting him. After everything all of us have been through, you don't need to see him again. If the FBI invites me to the facility, I will be glad to go, even if I have to buy a plane ticket and fly to another side of the country."

Matthew sighed. "But with Nightmare Freddy gone, don't we have that new animatronic? I feel like he's taking over Freddy's place, like he may be as strong and aggressive as Freddy was."

"I don't know, Matthew. He may be, but let's hope he is not." Grace wiped her tears, too. "I still suspect this new animatronic is some nightmarish form of Fredbear. I mean, who else would their creator build?"

Matthew just fell silent. 

Grace patted his back. "Come on. We need to get out of here before the other Nightmares find out what happened."

As she came closer to what were now five parked cars, taking a couple minutes of her time to walk a long way, Amber ran up to Grace and tightly wrapped her arms around her.

"Woah, calm down, Amber!" Grace blinked a few times at her.

"But you did it! Nightmare Freddy is no longer after us!" Amber stopped hugging her friend and jumped up and down multiple times. "We got one!"

"Yes, I know!" Grace kept chuckling at Amber's reaction. "We got him!"

Amber hugged Grace again--except this time, Grace never hugged back--and she felt Amber jumping as she was continuing to hug her. "We just have to get the others!"

"Okay, okay! Can you...let go of me? You're getting too hyped up over killer animatronics; I know it's a celebration, but we're not done with them yet."

Amber stopped jumping, letting go of Grace, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Look, I love you as a friend and like a sister, but you get too excited over things. Can you please calm down?"

"I'll try, Grace."

"_Tu ferais mieux_ **(Eng: You better)**." Grace laughed.

Amber grinned. "_Bien sûr_ **(Eng: Of course)**!"

Grace smiled and nodded her head once at Amber, and she soon walked over to where her parents were standing. Without hesitation, Grace ran into both of their arms, and the moment between them all turned into an emotional one. 

"So they are real," William said as he took his arms off Grace. "I thought you were crazy with this dangerous plan, but you really did it; you made it work."

"How could you tell?" Grace stared at him, confused. "Were you able to see me in the darkness back there?"

"I saw everything, even your mother did." William looked over at Janice, who was nervously smiling at her daughter.

"Grace, sweetie, are you really going to risk your life to catch these animatronics?" Janice asked, her smile disappearing. "I don't want you to be killed! What will we do without you around?"

"If I ever die, Mother, just know that I sacrificed my life for all of these people. Hopefully, I do not die at all, but if I do, I would want to be remembered for that."

"Maybe if it'll calm you down a bit after what happened--" William walked closer to the car he was driving, a Ford sedan, and opened the door. "--I brought a special someone."

"Who is that?"

"You should know who it is."

A huge smile was brought on Grace's face as William picked up a cat from the inside of the car, and she recognized who the cat was.

"Iris?" Grace asked as William placed the cat in her arms. "Hi there! Did you miss me?"

With nervousness, Iris pulled her ears back and quickly looked around.

"It's me, Iris." Grace took a hand and scratched the top of Iris' head. "You're okay. I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

Iris let out a meow in response. 

Grace looked back at the car her parents drove. "Where did you get this car? Are you borrowing it from someone? Did you rent it?"

"My friend had a spare car that she never used at all," Janice replied. "Believe it or not, after hearing our other car was destroyed, we were given this new one at no cost. Of course, my friend had to transfer the information and everything about this car over to us, and that was such a process, but it's ours now. Tell me, Grace--what happened to our old Cadillac? I heard it was destroyed, but I don't exactly know how."

"One of the Nightmares destroyed it," Grace said, adjusting Iris in her arms. "When I was in the hospital, Nightmare Chica thought it would be fun to flip over the car. I couldn't do anything about it when it happened."

"I figured it might have been one of these damn animatronics." William sighed. "I hardly hear around this town about car vandalism and destruction caused by other people--those kinds of people who think it's fun just to destroy a random car. I would have guessed that in our situation, it was an animatronic. Who else would it be? Who else would have enough strength to flip over a car with their own hands?"

Grace felt Iris trying to jump out of her arms, but the cat was unable to as Grace moved her arms around again. "If you're wondering, too, I did get a ride with a new guy friend to go rescue Matthew as I left the hospital. You probably didn't know this, but despite me abandoning the car for a bit, I did go back to the hospital during the day and took a moment to get it towed. I never said to the towing company the real reason why it was flipped over, because I was afraid that they thought I would be crazy."

Janice took Iris back after she noticed Grace struggling to keep the cat in her arms. "But look, all that matters is that we have a new car. We'll have to make sure it's really protected, just so we don't keep spending money on it being destroyed by animatronics. Grace, please don't drive it if you'll leave it outside for a while. If you ever need money for public transportation, I'll be glad to give you some."

"It's fine. I have been using my own money lately to get to work."

"I know, but you are making minimum wage. I am always here to help you if you need a bit of cash."

Grace touched the front of the car and examined it. "For a sedan, it's pretty nice looking. Is it new?"

"It's about a couple years old," William told her. "Janice's friend bought it back in 1981, but she eventually gave up on it when she got into an accident with a friend and became disabled--paralyzed from the waist down. No, she didn't get in an accident with this car, but in her friend's car, yes, she was in an accident."

"Oh. Sorry that had to happen, Mother."

"It's okay, Grace. I'd rather have her alive and disabled than dead."

"True."

Janice carefully placed Iris back in the car and closed the door. "Now what, Grace? You were able to catch one of the animatronics, and there are more of them, supposedly. What are we going to do about the rest?"

"I know the rest of them we'll have to destroy." Grace rubbed the back of her neck with her hands. "I haven't thought through about what we all should do with the four of them, but I do know we won't capture them like what we did to Nightmare Freddy. Maybe all we can do is avoid the Nightmares and leave the SWAT officers to do their job."

William was about to say something when Andrew ran up to her, out of breath. 

"Excuse me for a second. Am I...interrupting something here?" He tried to catch his breath. "I just...want to talk to Grace for a bit."

"No," William told him. "Go ahead, young man."

"Are you really alive, Grace?" Andrew made his way closer to Grace and hugged her. "I couldn't see you in the darkness here, but I can now tell you are all well! I thought Nightmare Freddy would've killed you!"

"Yes, I'm alive, Andrew." Grace wrapped her arms around him. "I'm all good. He's no longer going to be after me and all of us."

"I guess you can say that the SWAT team there 'arrested' him, except without the handcuffs and all that. Makes sense he's going to some facility where he'll be held like an actual prisoner."

"I hope they do more to him than just hold him there."

"Like?"

"I don't know. Maybe they should somehow torture him to get him to tell who built all five of them--counting the new animatronic that is out right now. I remember 'hurting' Nightmare Freddy by beating him when I tried to save Matthew that one night; I hope they do that to him or some other methods. He should feel pain himself, like the pain he's inflicted on me and these other people. I mean, I don't think he can feel much physical pain, but I know he can feel mental pain. I recall Matthew telling me that Nightmare Freddy felt his own fear once he was told the government would be after him and his friends."

"That would be fun to hear about. Especially what happened to my father, he deserves to be treated poorly."

Janice stepped into the conversation. "I'm sorry? What did this Freddy fella do to your father?"

"He murdered my father," Andrew replied. "Matthew swore he witnessed him getting killed by Nightmare Freddy. Sorry for my language, but I'm just glad that animatronic asshole is caught! He needs to be taught a lesson!"

"Are you sure this was your father?"

"Well, Matthew saw my father's murder with his own eyes, and I have even tried to find my father, like I visited the police station that he typically worked at, and his fellow partners said he never came into work. Even calling my father multiple times was a fail, as he never picked up when he usually does. I know Matthew was not lying one bit there.

"How else do I know this kid wasn't lying? As I visited that same police station, some of the officers he worked with actually took their time to find him, but they never discovered his body at all. I asked if they could check Matthew's house, but nothing was supposedly found there, not even a touch of blood--how do they do it? The police then added him to the list of different cops who are suspected to be killed by the Nightmares. Knowing these animatronics, too, I have heard they hide bodies really well and never tell anyone that they murdered someone. Seems that, lately, they have been making all of that more obvious."

Grace sighed. "Don't even start on the mall incident that scared all those people. I still question what they did to start that huge fire. Sure they may have ignited something, but I just don't know what."

Andrew placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's not worry about that now."

"Yeah, I know that I shouldn't." Grace began to shake, but she tried to hide it by crossing her arms.

"You cold?"

"Maybe. Funny how it's warm out, though, and I'm a bit cold. Well, I'm nervous, too, after almost dying back there."

Andrew ran back towards his car. "Just a second."

"What are you doing, Andrew?"

He soon came back a moment later to Grace with a blanket. "I could have swore I had a jacket in my car, but this is all I have."

Grace felt the blanket being thrown over her back and shoulders, and she grabbed onto the two sides, covering the front of her body up. "Oh, I didn't really need this, but thanks anyways."

Andrew laid his hands on her back and began to walk her to his car. "Go ahead and get in, and I'll grab Matthew to come with us. You two have been through a lot with these animatronics, and I'll take you both to my house, if you don't mind. With Nightmare Freddy gone, you two won't be as much as a target as before."

"I don't know, Andrew." Grace slowly climbed into the Corvette. "Even without him, the Nightmares may still know where we are."

"Grace, don't you worry. I live in an upper middle-class neighborhood, and we have lots of security around this closed off subdivision. The area is surrounded by lots of metal gates, and the entry to the neighborhood requires special access, just so certain people, like suspicious ones, can't find a way in. The Nightmares won't get in, I can say that."

"So you have money, but you're not as wealthy as rich people? That might explain how you're able to afford such a nice car. With my parents' money and my own money, we wouldn't each be able to buy one without our bank accounts almost going negative."

"You're not going to go all gold digger mode on me, are you? Once mentioning I had money before to some people, I had girls around my age begging me for my number."

"I would say what I think about guys like you, but you'd call me a 'liar.'"

"No, I wouldn't. Forget what most douchebags think all girls believe in; stereotypes are bullshit anyways. What is it?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Poor or rich, I'd still like a guy the way he is. Just look at Michael and the other two guys I dated in middle and high school; they were not as wealthy as you. Am I surprised that you have money? Yes. Am I willing to be crazier over you, just because you have more money? Of course not. As important as it is, money isn't the top thing on my list; love is the top thing. I would also be that person who wouldn't mind being with a guy and living on the streets."

"I respect that. You're a smart woman with common sense, you know that? I haven't even dated for over 10 years, just because I'm extremely careful about falling for a girl who would treat me badly in a relationship. My friends are all like, 'You're just a wimp, man; you're strong enough to handle a girl even if she's a bitch'--those stereotypes again--but I dumped them, as they were giving me such bad advice. Remember the other friends I had that I told you about? They hated me for supporting a lesbian. I was accused of playing the 'just trying to get with her' card, but why the hell would I get into bed with a girl who likes other girls? I'm not forcing her to be straight; I'm not that much of a jerk."

Grace tightened the blanket around her. "Alright, enough chatting. Can we...please head back to your place?"

Andrew nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry for wasting your time on such a random topic. Just asking, too--are you hungry?"

"A little bit. Why?"

"Because I'm going to stop at one of those gas stations that are open all night and get you and Matthew a little something; I think one of them has ice cream if you want a treat. Like I said, you two have been through a lot. I know I recently lost my father, but you two are the only ones that deserve more of a break than me."

"I appreciate the offer, but I can pay for things like that myself. I don't always need you spending your money on me."

"Grace, you were almost killed by a vicious animatronic who always wanted to murder you all this time. Please allow me to do a favor for you. Just sit back for now and don't worry about wasting something you have."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Andrew patted her back a couple times. "Hang in there, okay? I'll get you and Matthew something to eat and take you back to my house."

"Okay then, Andrew. Oh, and tell the others they can go home for the night or come with us if they want to. You alright with that?"

"I'm totally fine with it. My house is a big three-story home, so I'm sure we can have over 10 people there." Andrew closed the door to his car and walked around it. 

Grace kept watching as he began to talk to her parents, and she managed to hear only one question he asked through the closed car doors; he asked them if it was alright to let him drive Grace and Matthew to his house. Janice looked back at his car and then at him, approving of his question.

Andrew made his way over to the other cars and took a couple minutes to ask the rest of the group if they wanted to follow him to his house. Though each reply was muffled, Grace heard most of the group agreeing to come with.

He later got in the car with Matthew between him and Grace. He groaned as he closed the door and started up the Corvette.

"Who's all coming?" Grace asked, buckling herself in with the seat belt over the blanket.

"Me--of course--you, Matthew, your parents, Elijah, Sofia, Amber, and her parents as well," he answered as he also put on his seat belt.

"Why not Ryan or Elizabeth?"

"Ryan says he has to go home to his parents. I guess they already came back from their wedding anniversary trip he mentioned." Andrew sighed. "Now, Elizabeth is unsure my place would be safe enough to keep the Nightmares away."

"Well, what kind of security does your neighborhood have?"

"Closed off gates, security cameras, and patrol officers that are paid by the city to patrol this neighborhood and other similar wealthy areas. Now with this incident with the animatronics going around, there may be more officers in my neighborhood, maybe followed by real cops. We'll have to see."

"Random question," Matthew added. "What is your house like? I heard it's huge."

"Just keep in mind that it's not like a mansion, buddy." Andrew pulled the manual lever in his car and began to drive off. "My house is just a three-story, Victorian-style house, and even the inside looks like a normal middle class home, only touched up with a bit of an expensive look to it. Still not as fancy as those homes that cost millions of dollars, but it's pretty nice."

"Three stories? What do you do with all those rooms?" Grace noticed Matthew tugging on the blanket, and she pulled some of it out from under her seat belt to give him some.

"My family actually found all those rooms useful back then," Andrew explained. "The lower level is the basement, and my father would use it as his room for target practice while working as a cop--by the way, he was able to keep a gun and use it in the house since he was an authority figure. The second level is where the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the one bathroom are all at; there is another room on that same level, and that room I always used as a playroom when I was a child. The upper level is where the other bathroom and the four bedrooms are; there is my room, my parents' room, and a couple guest rooms. When other family members visited a lot, they would stay in the guest rooms. Since some people are coming with me tonight back to my house, I may allow a few to spend the night if they want to. You and Matthew are allowed a room, and I'll have to check with the others."

"Will your mother be okay with some of them using her room?"

"My mother?" Andrew laughed nervously. "She's out of the state right now--I'm 'house sitting'--but I can call her and ask."

"Oh really? What for?"

"Some special police work. I don't know exactly what she's doing, because she hardly calls or writes me."

Grace nodded her head at him. "Sorry if this is a rude question, but you're still living in the same house for 26 years? How come?"

"Because my...mother was battling some deadly disease on and off. As of now, she is cured and strong enough to work, but since being diagnosed when I was 16 at the time, I refused to leave her. Father was too busy with his work to financially help us, and I wanted a job, too, but it never happened, until I got the 911 operator job at 22. I would have gotten family members to come help her, but they were all far away."

Grace felt tears coming in her eyes. "What disease?"

"It was not cancer, if you're wondering; it's...something else. I can't think of the damn name, but it was one of those that would disappear and reappear; it was hard to fight off." He started to cry himself. "I refused to leave her until she was cured and I got my job. Now that she is at work, I am just living in and watching the house for now; I'm paying the mortgage and everything. My mother has been out of the state for these past few years, and I still communicate with her...sometimes."

"I'm sorry about what happened to her, Andrew. Besides, when your father was still here, did you still stay just to be with him?"

"Yes, as I never wanted to make sure he was in danger while doing his police work. All these people are telling me to move out already, but I'm so sorry that I care about my family! I want to be as close to them as possible and make sure they're okay!" He angrily pounded his hands on the steering wheel once. "People don't get it."

Matthew stared at him in shock, unsure what to say.

Andrew laughed as he cried. "You're probably thinking I'm a wimp, because I'm a grown man crying."

Grace wiped her tears. "No, I am not. Whoever says men don't cry are just assholes seeking attention. Look, let's skip the gas station and go on ahead to your house, okay? You need a break, too."

He nodded his head at her. "Yeah, I agree. I'm sorry that I've been a mess tonight, but even guys like me--who must have 'perfect lives' with tons of money, according to people I've met--have our moments where we just feel like completely giving everything up. Just because we have money doesn't mean everything is easy for us. So many ignorant people these days; it's really just making me more frustrated."

Grace hesitated. "Sorry that society can be a bitch."

"It's not your fault, Grace, and it isn't mine either; it's the uneducated people's fault that they have to make stereotypes and ideas a thing, like...what is the thing with all women being viewed as sexual objects? Who the hell came up with that bullshit?" Andrew shook his head. "Sorry for the sob story and short rant. Let's just...go to my house and hope these Nightmares don't catch us."


	41. Chapter 41

"You weren't kidding about your house," Grace said as Andrew opened the front door for her. "Looks and feels like things are more spread out than at my home."

"It's not anything too fancy, but it's still a nice house," Andrew waited as the rest of the group walked inside.

Amber stared up at the ceiling. "There's a glass chandelier in your living room? That thing looks expensive!"

Andrew laughed. "Yeah, it wasn't cheap."

"Are you worried that if there's going to be an earthquake or something that this thing will fall and break?"

"If that ever happens, I'd already be rushing towards a safer area."

Amber examined the rest of the room. "Clean hardwood floors, leather furniture, a big TV with a nice wooden entertainment center, and a nice coffee table, too? How much did your family spend?"

"A lot, Amber."

Amber soon walked towards the kitchen. "It's so beautiful in this room, too! Do you see this, everyone? This is just insane! Can I live here, please? I already am in love with this house!"

Grace sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Dammit, Amber."

Andrew shook his head, still smiling, and closed the front door. "Anyways, I'm sure some of you don't really know everything about these animatronics, other than the fact they're out to kill people. You all probably saw that there was heavier security out there, so my plan is that we stay here for a bit and see what happens. I don't know how secure this neighborhood will be with the animatronics out, but let's hope they can't get to us and all of these other people. As a quick update, too, this Freddy counterpart has been captured, but I heard there's a new animatronic out tonight, so we still have four of them to deal with."

Elijah sat down on one of the couches. "I may have not seen these monsters in person, but I'm already feeling unsafe and vulnerable."

"I wanted to lure an animatronic my way, but I guess I'm not doing that," Sofia mumbled, crossing her arms. "Maybe I am better off hiding from them."

Grace glanced over at her. "I heard you, Sofia, and I personally think you are better off hiding and avoiding them instead of...you know...uh, whatever."

Andrew frowned. "What did she say?"

"Oh, Sofia was mentioning that she's better off hiding from the Nightmares than doing her...weird trick. You know the one from earlier?"

"Yeah, I agree." He laid his eyes on Sofia. "I don't know. Your idea is still very odd to me. Stay here, because as much as your...trick...may work, you're still putting yourself in danger."

Sofia took her hair band out, causing the strands in her side ponytail to split apart. "Sure. Okay then."

Andrew sighed and commented quietly under his breath, "Bipolar psycho."

Grace noticed Matthew and Elijah talking to each other, and she grinned at the cute moment. At one point, Matthew gave him a high-five and flashed him a smile; this made Grace feel even happier that Matthew was having a good time talking to more new people, as before, he only relied on his plushies as his friends.

After a moment of Grace looking at the two young boys, Andrew suddenly stood in front of her, and as she looked up--not knowing he was there--she jumped in fear. She took a deep breath and listened as her oxygen monitor beeped quickly at her.

"Why did you do that?" Grace closed her eyes. 

"I'm sorry that I scared you," he said. "I said your name a couple times, and you never heard me. Anyways, I just wanted to ask if you want something to eat here instead. I have lots of snacks and stuff."

"What do you have?" She opened her eyes back up. "Do you have ice cream here? Maybe Matthew and I could enjoy a treat."

"Oh...I just remembered that I do have some ice cream; I didn't know if I had some when we were driving back here. I think there's vanilla and...maybe that's it. Let me check real quick."

Grace silently watched as he walked into the kitchen and opened his refrigerator, which had two doors on different sides, and he happened to pull the handle on the left side.

"You have a refrigerator with double doors? Nice." She leaned against the wall, underneath a wooden arch that was built over the entry to the kitchen. "You have other nice looking stuff in here, too. Just wondering--when your family bought this house, was it move-in ready, or did you have to get all of this stuff yourself?"

"The kitchen and bathrooms were already set up the way they are now. The theme in the kitchen here kind of ruins the look I'm going for. You know the theme I'm going for in the living room? By all that, I'm going for that white and brown theme, like some...rustic feel to all rooms. Look at this kitchen, though; there is black in here! I admit that even though black looks cool on my car, the color does not appeal to me in the house."

"Are you just keeping those cabinets and appliances for now, even though each one of them is a color you hate?"

"For now, yes." Andrew took out a bucket of ice cream from the freezer side of the refrigerator. "If you noticed, too, of course I'm going for a different theme, because my parents agreed with me that we should update the house to a different look. I asked for a brown and white theme, drew some visuals on what our house would look like, showed them the drawings, and they thought the new theme was a good idea. Just had the living room upgraded a couple months ago, and I'm still in the process of getting the kitchen updated."

"So, your family originally had this black theme that came with the house, or whatever other colors there were, and you recently wanted to upgrade it? I mean, I think at one point in life, every home deserves some upgrades."

"Exactly." After grabbing a small bowl from one of the cabinets, Andrew pulled open a utensil drawer and took out a spoon. "How much you want?"

"Just keep scooping it. I'll tell you when there's enough." Grace glanced over at the living room. "Matthew, if you want something to eat, come here! Andrew has ice cream! Looks like he only has vanilla, if you're alright with that!"

She eventually stopped Andrew as he finished up with placing her ice cream in the bowl. "That should be enough for me."

"Looks like there's a lot there, Grace. You really hungry?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I never ate for almost a day, and while I did have dinner made for me when at work, I still didn't eat it."

"Why, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was talking to Elizabeth about Nightmare Freddy and what he would always say to me." Grace paused as she leaned her back against the counter took a bite of her ice cream. "He would always say these insults about me, and it was at the point where he manipulated me so much that I completely gave up and felt worthless, as what he would say I was. As I was talking about this, I just lost my appetite. Never felt like taking one bite of what was originally my lunch, but even at dinnertime, I still never wanted to eat."

"Look, at least he is gone; he's the hands of the FBI now."

She nodded her head at him. "Yeah, I know. What an asshole he was."

Matthew soon ran into the kitchen and politely asked Andrew for a bowl. Andrew smiled at him and proceeded to give him a smaller portion of ice cream, which Matthew asked for. After a silent moment of Andrew scooping ice cream, Matthew was given the bowl and a spoon, and he happily began to eat his bowl. 

"You must be hungry, too," Andrew said.

Matthew finished swallowing a bite. "I haven't eaten much today or yesterday. Everything that's been going on made me crave less food."

Grace took another bite and closed her eyes as she felt the inside of her head getting cold. "And because of me not eating--from worrying about the Nightmares and other things, like my breakup with Michael--I think I lost a pound or two. My metabolism isn't that high, so it's harder for me to keep a balanced weight."

"Did you check if you were losing weight?" Andrew asked.

"During my hospital stay, I was weighed, and I think I was at 122.6 there, but I was exactly 123 before, far as I remember. Maybe I am losing a bit of weight."

"It's nearly half of a difference, so I wouldn't worry. I would say to watch out if it dramatically drops." He sighed. "Anyways, the Nightmares may be out, but we're safe here. Let's just all try to relax for now, and if we have to leave for any reason, the patrol officers or real cops will warn this whole neighborhood."

Grace remained silent as she watched him walk out of the kitchen, offering food or drinks to the rest of the group. She then stared down at Matthew, who looked back up at her with fear.

"Something wrong, Matthew?" Grace set her spoon in the bowl and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

He didn't say anything.

"Hey, I know there's so much going on in a short amount of time, but I knew for a fact that we can beat these monsters. For now, Andrew made a promise that we're safe here, and if we have to leave for a certain reason, we'll leave and go to another safe place."

"If we ever had to leave, what would be the reason?"

"Anything from the officers out there getting killed, to the animatronics being spotted in this area. We'd know if we have to leave if an officer knocks on the front door, or we would also know if we hear chaos going on in this area. But Matthew, nothing is happening, and I do feel like we're a lot safer hanging out here."

"I just hope you're right."

Grace began to move herself back towards the living room. "You coming?"

Matthew nodded his head and followed her back to where the rest of the group was hanging out.

* * *

"This all has to be bullshit! Are there really such animatronics out right now?" Ethan glanced over at Michael.

Michael sat up on the couch, laying his feet against the floor of his home. "I can't tell you how truthful I am when I say that I saw one myself. I thought he would kill me, but...he left me alone. I don't know why."

"Whether you were hallucinating or not, I still find all of this unbelievable."

"Are you saying that because you don't believe in the animatronics, or are you just surprised?"

"I'm surprised by all of this, man. I mean, look at the people we ran into earlier; those were officers sent out by the president to go after the animatronics! This is...craziness!" Ethan looked around the living room. "Are the animatronics here now? I heard they really like to hang out here for some reason."

"Seems like it, but I think they've moved on to other places around this town."

"I also heard, too...that one of the animatronics were captured." Ethan stared back at Michael. "I had a radio with me earlier, and there was news that one of them was caught by the SWAT officers."

"I heard that as well; it was that weird Freddy animatronic." Michael sighed. "I wonder why they couldn't destroy him instead."

"It's a rumor that he is the only one who could talk, while the others don't speak at all. The officers could be capturing him to hold him somewhere and have a little chat with him."

"What is he--some prisoner now? I find it funny you said it in a way like he was 'arrested' or something."

Ethan shrugged a shoulder. "Technically, he was 'arrested,' but they never placed him in handcuffs like a human prisoner; also, the person on the radio said that the officers had to practically tackle him to the ground and quickly tie ropes around him to keep him from attacking them. I wonder where he'll be held at, since he's being transported somewhere by federal officers. Probably, he'll be in some special facility or something."

"How would they even handle him? I know he's an animatronic, but...he clearly must act like a rabid animal."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they have some officers in the back of the SWAT vehicle to hold him down if he is getting too crazy."

Michael stood up and made his way into one of the hallways, with Ethan following him. "Grace was probably a part of that plan to get him captured. I remember she mentioned getting an animatronic caught, and I think that Freddy guy was the exact one she was targeting for. Speaking of earlier, too, I did go after her, but I couldn't exactly see where all those vehicles were going. Decided just to come back here with you after I lost her and figured we would chill for a bit. Right now as we're relaxing here, I am hoping that Grace wasn't attacked by this Freddy animatronic."

Ethan looked as his friend started to rummage through Matthew's room. "May I ask what you're doing?"

"What? Can't I go through the little man's stuff? I planned to trash his room and blame the mess on him."

"Oh, that sounds like a really good idea. Do it."

Michael suddenly closed his eyes for a second and lifted the collar of his shirt over his nose. "Shit. What's been going on in here? You smell that? It smells like there was a dead body in here."

Ethan squinted both of his eyes and coughed in his hand. "Yeah, it does. Sorry, man, but I need some air. You go ahead and do your thing."

Michael, with his shirt still covering his nose, went through Matthew's drawers and began to pull out all of his little brother's clothes, scattering them all over the floor.

He then moved on to the pile of Matthew's four plushies and threw each one across the room. Michael laughed as he went to the closet and tossed more clothes across the floor.

When continuing to trash the rest of his brother's room, Michael felt himself coughing more from the strong odor in the room, and without any hesitation, he soon ran out of the bedroom.

He rushed out of the front door and leaned against the porch railing, coughing more as he took deep breaths. "I thought smells would get less strong if you spend time getting used to them, but as I kept hanging out in there, it was getting stronger. What even happened in there?"

"You said it smelled like there was a dead body in there. Maybe there was an actual body."

"You have to be joking, Ethan. Who would it be if there was a body in Matthew's room?"

"I don't know. The only kind of person I could think of is a police officer. Wouldn't it make sense that Matthew called the cops while these animatronics were after him? If I was in that baby's situation, I would call for help."

"I would, too, but...whatever." Michael rolled his eyes and sat down on one of the chairs outside. "I'm still a bit confused as to why the animatronics are leaving us alone. When I encountered this Bonnie animatronic, he just turned around and left me be."

"Don't be complaining if they're letting us live." Ethan stood beside him. "But if you want an answer, you'd have to pay Nightmare Freddy a visit. Maybe Grace will bring you along if you want to know why his friends are leaving us alone."

"I know that Grace won't take me with; she still thinks I'm a jerk to her."

Ethan blinked a few times at him. "Maybe she will actually approve of the idea of you going with her. Maybe."

"I'm not sure either, but I can always ask."

After a long conversation between the two, Ethan looked over at the road in front of them in fear. He slowly walked onto the sidewalk leading up to the house and stared at the road.

"Ethan, what's the problem, man?" Michael asked, standing up from his chair.

"Shush!" Ethan whispered, holding up his hand behind him. "I thought I saw something."

Michael silently made his way to his friend, and he looked at the road with him, trying to watch out for whatever Ethan noticed.

Ethan took two more steps forward and lowered his hand. "Hold on."

"What is it?"

"Shut the hell up, dude!" Ethan exclaimed in a loud, yet hushed, voice. "Just...wait!"

Michael impatiently followed him as his friend kept moving towards the road. He nervously glanced all around him as he felt a wave of paranoia take over him.

"Oh shit!" Ethan suddenly yelled and jumped back, grabbing onto Michael and pulling him. "Animatronic! Right there! He's across the road! Don't get closer like what I did! Stupid me!"

"What?" Michael squinted his eyes to focus on this animatronic Ethan saw. "Where is he?"

"He's near that street light!" Ethan pointed across the road. "See him?"

Michael widened his eyes as his vision became clearer. He slowly started to back up as he kept his eyes on what was a new animatronic he's never seen before; the Nightmare was golden in color with two mouths in different places, followed by a purple hat and bow tie. He seemed larger in size and height than the other animatronics, and he also had bigger claws and teeth. 

"Looks like Fredbear," Ethan commented. "I guess his full name is Nightmare Fredbear then."

"We need to go inside, right?" Michael warned his friend. "I don't know if this new Nightmare is hostile towards us!"

"Oh no, just let us stay out here and be mauled to death! Good idea!" Ethan shook his head. "Of course we should go in, retard!"

Both of the boys quickly ran into the house, and Michael slammed the door shut behind them. Out of breath, he leaned over to one of the windows and peeked through the outside, seeing Nightmare Fredbear still standing there and looking right at him. The animatronic only let out a growl and walked along the side of the road, leaving the two young men alone in the house.

"Oh, he's not after us!" Michael laughed through multiple rapid breaths. "We're fine!"

He kept watching as Nightmare Fredbear kept walking slowly beside the road. However, Michael did not expect what would happen next.

The new animatronic eventually stopped in front of a passing car and laid a hand on the front bumper, completely flipping it over. He soon tore the doors off and pulled out a young man that was driving it. Trying to run away, the man fell backwards on the ground and quickly stood back up with no problems, despite appearing injured. 

Nightmare Fredbear soon placed both of his claws through the man's body, all the way until the beginning of his claws were visible out of the man's back. Screaming, the man tried to push him away, but Nightmare Fredbear took his hands out and scratched the man's neck multiple times, enough that blood was dripping and spurting out of it. The man collapsed on the ground, clutching both his neck and stomach, and he still tried to move away from Nightmare Fredbear.

The bear animatronic stood him back up and bit down on his entire head. Now lifeless, the man's body fell once again with no head visible on the top of him.

Michael drew back from the window in shock, trying to forget what he saw. He covered his face and nearly cried.

"So, this is the kind of incident Grace told me about--with the animatronics murdering people that way," he mumbled. "What a mess we are in."


	42. Chapter 42

"I'm not used to being up so late," Janice said as Grace sat down next to her on a couch, holding a can of soda in her hand. "I mean, I know I was awake past midnight that one night you came home having a panic attack, Grace, but still, this is new to me."

"I've been trying my hardest to adjust to this new schedule I have," Grace replied. "Stay awake at midnight to six AM, sleep until 11 AM, work at noon to eight at night, prepare for midnight, repeat. It sucks. Sorry, Mother, but if you want to stay alive, I suggest you create and adjust to a new schedule until these animatronics are destroyed. After they're done and over with, you can go back to your old schedule."

"Yeah, I should be in bed by now." Elijah yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I work different hours than Grace, and once I come home from work, I'm already passing out on my bed, which is around 10 at night, I think. I very rarely stay up this late, so I'm obviously not used to being an all-nighter."

"We're all gonna have to be all-nighters in the meantime, Elijah." Grace sighed. "Rules of surviving these animatronics are be brave, be alert, and definitely be awake."

"Be awake? I'll have to get used to that." Elijah laughed nervously. "Just wanted to say--if Andrew's house is really some 'safe haven' for us to be in for now, how about you work until your normal hours, hang out with me at the diner for a bit, and as I finish up, I'll drive you here. How does that sound? Besides, I heard your family's old car was destroyed, and as a second thing, you do need to stay away from driving, since you haven't slept that much lately."

"Sounds good, but I forgot when you clock out."

"I'm off by around 9:30, but I'm usually heading out earlier. Can you handle just chilling for an hour or so?"

"Let me ask our boss if I can work an extra hour. I prefer to be working as I'm waiting on you; I'm not that patient, I must admit."

"I'm surprised that you're sleep deprived and are willing to do so much. I often hear that after two days of no sleep, people just completely give up on motivation and don't feel like doing anything. I hear you're near four days now with no proper sleep."

Grace felt her eyes tearing up unexpectedly, and she wiped them with her fingers. "I just have that constant 'tired but not feeling like sleeping' feeling. I think dealing with the Nightmares kind of has me feeling more awake, though that is happening as I'm tired at the same time. It's kind of weird to explain."

"Basically, you're at that point of collapsing on the floor and sleeping, but your body also doesn't want you to."

Grace nodded her head and felt herself yawning. "I'm feeling completely exhausted thinking about sleep right now. Crap."

Andrew stood up from another couch he was sitting on and walked over to her. "For now, we are all safe here. Why don't you come with me?"

"What?" She stared up at him, confused.

Not saying a word, he grabbed the soda can out of her hand and set it on the coffee table in front of her. Grace looked down at it for a moment and back up at him, soon noticing that he was signaling her to get up.

"What is it, Andrew?" 

He held onto both of her hands and pulled her off the couch. "Grace, I know how much you're willing to stay awake to make sure everyone is safe, but let me watch over them. You and Matthew may have stayed away from sleeping, but if I had to compare you two, you are in a much worse state than he is; not to be mean here, but you have been dealing with emotions and other issues more than Matthew. You remember that seizure you had at the hospital? That's definitely a red flag. I'll let you use one of the guest bedrooms for tonight, and don't worry about Matthew, your parents, and everyone else; I got this."

Grace sluggishly walked with Andrew as he helped her up the stairs to the bedrooms. "But what am I supposed to wear to bed? I still have my work clothes on, and I never wear anything other than pajamas to bed."

"You have two options; you could borrow some of my pajamas, or if you don't want to get them dirty or stained, you could always--not to sound inappropriate here--go without anything. If you go to bed without anything, I'll make sure that room is kept off-limits if you're worried about anyone seeing you."

Sofia heard him. "I always sleep with no clothes on! Not only is it comfortable, but it's hot, too! You should try it, Grace, if you haven't already!"

Grace stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to look at her. "We all know you're a whore, Sofia! Don't need to be rubbing it in our faces all the time!"

"You know, I don't mind being called that; it describes me well."

"You're kidding."

"Not one bit. I actually like that word."

Grace looked back at Andrew, who was surprised by her sudden insult. "Sorry for that word I said to her; I just really think this tiredness I'm dealing with is getting to me. Funny how I was fine earlier here and at work, though."

Andrew walked her up the rest of the stairs. "I get it; you are a bit moody and don't think properly, but that is what happens when you never sleep for a certain amount of time. We will fix that by letting you sleep for a bit to prevent more problems. You really deserve this time to rest, honestly. If something happens here--if we need to leave for any reason--I'll make sure that you're woken up, either by me or someone else."

"Thank you for this, Andrew. Really. I have been a mess lately, and I do think I need some time to give myself a break. Originally, I made myself withdraw from sleep, because of how terrified I was of these animatronics, but I mostly sacrificed my well-being just to make sure Matthew is okay."

"So, everything you dealt with, even the seizure, was all because you made yourself fall into that mess, all for Matthew? I like how courageous and selfless you can be towards other people, but you do need to also be aware of what you're doing to yourself. I get you believe in the whole 'die for someone else' thing, but I'm sure other people you're doing that for worry about you, too. Just think about it."

Grace soon walked into one of the guest bedrooms after Andrew directed her to one of them. "Can you wait out here while I get this work outfit off?"

"Well, are you going to sleep with nothing on, or do you want me to bring something for you to wear?"

"I'm just going to wear nothing. Never mind on you waiting for me; forget I said that." Grace started to hide behind the door. "Anyways, leave me be, please. Wake me up if anything around here happens."

"Alright. Sleep well, Grace. The whole bed in there was cleaned recently, so you have clean sheets and a clean mattress to sleep on." He smiled at her as she slowly closed the door behind him. "Just holler at me if you need anything, okay?"

Grace never replied to him, silently walking over to the bed, and proceeded to get ready for some sleep.

* * *

A couple hours past midnight, Matthew kept staring out the living room window, watching multiple police cars slowly driving around the gated neighborhood. A couple cars that passed by turned their lights on, both blue and red lights flashing back and forth on different colors. One of the cars stopped on the side of the road in front of Andrew's house, and the cop driving it stepped out to look around the area he parked in.

The police officer noticed another cop car pulling up behind his, and the driver of that other car stepped out to see what was going on. One of the officers, an older looking man, quickly looked down at his K-9 unit, who was sniffing the ground next to him. 

The two cops continued to talk for a moment before one of them turned on a flashlight and started to walk away with the police dog by his side. The other officer, who was still standing by the two cop cars, began to write stuff down in a notepad. 

A couple more police cars passed by, but they never stopped. One of the vehicles' drivers started to speak through their radio. Although it was muffled, Matthew was able to hear all of it.

"All residents and visitors in this neighborhood, stay in your homes," he said. "Take any animals inside as well for safety reasons; we may have our own animals, but our K-9 units can detect anything suspicious. As of now, we recommend that no one comes outside until it is safe to do so. Let us authority figures and the FBI'S SWAT teams figure out where these strange monsters are, and we'll get rid of them for sure."

Matthew eventually watched the one officer put his notepad away and started to walk up to Andrew's house. The child ran away from the window, causing the others to look at him and question him, and he quickly opened the door for the cop. 

Andrew stood behind Matthew and gently pushed him away. "Hello there. Is something wrong?"

The officer nervously glanced back at the other police vehicles and soon looked at Andrew. "Nothing has been spotted, but we are all hearing weird noises around here. I thought I was the only one hearing this...deep growling sound, but I guess the others hear it, too. We figured that we would warn you. Stay safe, okay? We're trying our best to track down these animatronics."

"Growling? I think they may be near, sir." He saw Matthew getting tense, and he held the child by his side. "I'm not trying to scare you, but...I have this strong sense they are around here somewhere. I...think we need to leave...now! I am starting to think my house is no longer safe now!"

"Now, hold on. There's no need to get frantic here. You are better off staying inside your house at the moment, as I think you'll have less of a chance of being murdered. Let us do the work, and if you need to leave, we'll warn you."

"Uh, you need to get into some shelter or busy place, too...like...now! What are you doing being outside when you're just going to be vulnerable to these animatronics? They're so tough that only one of them can kill off more than one of you in 30 seconds at least! I think the SWAT team needs to handle this situation, because all of you aren't as protected as them!"

"Listen, we have this under control. Let us handle this situation, and if we are in trouble, we will get some help."

"But coming from someone who wants to be a cop in the future, I worry about all of you, and I personally wouldn't be outside right now! Knowing these animatronics, you'll most likely end up like my father! You knew Officer Nelson at all? I lost him to one of these monsters! The one who killed him is now being transported to a facility for questioning, but that damn Nightmare killed my own father...who was a cop--a cop, sir! And the one thing you want to do, as an officer, is make yourself vulnerable out here? Sure you want to protect us, but you should all protect yourselves, too! Just go somewhere safer; you won't regret your decision!"

The cop silently kept looking at Andrew.

"Do you even know how these animatronics kill people?" Andrew continued. "I am not trying to sound all graphic here, but they stab you enough that their claws go all the way through your body! They bite your head off! They cut open your throat! I've heard that they've been pulling people's eyes and hair right out of place! I mean, they would do anything to you to make sure you're bleeding to death!

"Again, the one thing you want to do is stay outdoors when there is probably an animatronic nearby? Are you serious? Can't you just listen to me for once when I say that the SWAT teams are better off hunting these animatronics down? I'm sorry to say, but you don't look as protected as they are, and I don't think you'll get away with everything you have. Please, do yourself a favor and let the more tactical and skilled officers handle this."

The cop nervously scratched his head. "Shit, I didn't know about all of that you told me--how the animatronics murder people and that...you were the son of another officer I worked with. I...don't know about following your own orders, because I'm going along with what these other officers are telling me what to do. I can't figure out for myself what would be best to do."

"By the sound of that, I'm assuming you're a newer officer. Am I right?"

"Yeah, I'm new to this job. I mostly got the hang of how to respond to calls, recognize different codes, and all that, but being a new officer at a time like this makes smaller things a bit overwhelming and confusing, like I am not sure what orders to follow that my partners are giving me. I can't really tell what would be best to do, because I don't know how these animatronics act. Besides, I thought I would be hired to go after human criminals, not some vicious robots."

"Well, you may need to take care of situations not involving people sometimes. Keep that in mind." Andrew looked down at the cop's tag on his uniform, which read his last name on it. "Listen...uh...Officer Evans, I hate to break it to you, but let me at least work with you for once. I know I'm a civilian and not a cop, but I really wish to be one in the future. As of now, I work as a 911 operator, but I eventually want to follow what my father did. I already know some of the basic things about being a police officer, so please, can we work something out?"

Evans sighed. "Alright. Let me check with my fellow partners, and if they agree to you helping us, we'll let you work with us."

"Cool." Andrew stared down at Matthew. "Come on. Let's leave him to talk this out with the others."

Matthew nodded his head and walked away from the door, sitting on one of the couches in between Elijah and Janice. Andrew watched as the child got comfortable on the furniture, and he cracked the door open temporarily.

Andrew noticed Sofia quickly going through his refrigerator. "Excuse me, Ms. Sofia."

She shut the door and anxiously stepped away from it. "Um, is something up? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I just hope you're not causing a mess. I have had visitors over before, and you never know how many times they went through my stuff and spilled something that created a huge mess."

"Don't you worry, baby. I'm not trying to cause any mess."

"'Baby?' Is that what you're calling me now? I only find that nickname, that you just gave me, acceptable if I was in a relationship with you, but I am not. I mean, you aren't my type anyways; I personally don't date girls who are sweet and caring at first, but immediately change to psychotic and killer by the next minute. The thought of dating a girl who could secretly kill me for doing one small thing wrong scares me. You know, you're a monster, Sofia, and while you are helping with taking care of these other killers, I still feel uncomfortable when you act crazy around this group. Anyways, let's forget about all of this. I have a real first name, so please use it--no nicknames."

Sofia shrugged her shoulders. "You fret too much. I just called you a nickname I never intended on using in any certain way. I use that name towards guys all the time; I find it a nice little name to call them."

"I bet you that all of those guys thought you were in love with them or something."

"Well, I do use the name towards any boyfriend I have."

"Wouldn't any boyfriends of yours be angry with you when using that name towards other guys? Wow, you're...confusing me, Sofia." Andrew shook his head and turned away from her, looking at the group. "Someone needs to put her in a mental hospital. I hate to say it, but nothing she says makes any sense to me."

Janice stood up from the couch. "Hey, sometimes we all say things that never make sense. Give her a break, Andrew."

"You know what? I will try to give Sofia a break. I am sorry, Mrs. Thompson. I'm not that patient with anyone who causes me to lose some of that patience. Basically, I mean someone who annoys or confuses me too much based off whatever they tell me." He sighed and walked towards the stairs in the hallway. "Excuse me for a second while I go check up on Grace. I want to make sure she's sleeping okay, because I fear if she never sleeps for a longer time, she'll struggle with more health related stuff. She's already suffered a seizure from her three days of no sleep, and I'm scared that she may get worse later on. If the cop I was speaking to comes back to the door, someone needs to talk to him for me, and whoever does needs to also mention that I'm busy checking up on someone. Thank you."

Andrew ran up the stairs, hearing his breathing speed up, and rushed to one of the guest bedroom doors, pressing a hand against it. Out of breath, he softly knocked on the door and called for Grace.

There was nothing but silence for a long moment, until he heard a faint, "You can come in," came from the room. Andrew placed his hand on the door knob and slowly turned it, opening the door to see Grace covering her whole body up with the bed sheets. Turning on the bed towards him, she nervously smiled at him and motioned him to come in.

"Is this a sleepover now or something?" he asked her, closing the door behind him. "Why are you inviting me in?"

She laughed. "No, not at all. I just want to talk."

"Well, I'm wondering for myself if you're sleeping okay. I don't want you suffering anymore health problems from no sleep at all. I know that the first signs of sleep deprivation are mental, but the more you withdraw from sleep, the more the symptoms get worse, and they can turn physical."

"I was able to get some rest, which I'm happy about." Grace stretched one of her arms and made sure that she was covered up good. "What time is it? I can see it's still dark out, but I don't see a clock in here."

"It's past two AM."

"Ah, not long. Feels like it's almost six AM to me for some reason."

Andrew pulled up a chair in the room and sat beside her. "So, you wanted to talk? Is something on your mind?"

"It's not anything bad, if you're wondering. I just wanted to mention that the level of stress on me after Nightmare Freddy was taken away has really gone down. I am still fearful of these other animatronics, but I now do not have to worry about one of them that was always after me. It makes me feel relieved that he's being held captive somewhere and away from me."

"About that, Grace--why was it he wanted you dead so bad? If I recall correctly, he wanted to kill you, because you kept getting in his way and kept rescuing Matthew. Is what I said there true? Anyways, if the bastard wanted you killed so bad, why didn't he? Of course, I do not want you dead--oh, hell no--but the amount of damage he's inflicted on you should have been enough to finish you off. Did he somehow give up and thought it was worthless chasing you down? Whatever the reason is, I'm glad he didn't do anything else to you."

"Look, he doesn't kill off a lot of female victims anyways; he would rather watch them suffer in pain with less severe injuries. Did you not hear about this fact? Well, now you did. He was always after children, teens, and women--though rarely men--and hardly killed off anyone completely. I think he only murders someone for sure if there was something that made him extremely angry towards them. I mean--later on--he was trying to kill me back at the hospital, because he knew that I got the word out about him and his friends, if I remember right. Basically, I think he's just that animatronic that loves to tease his human victims with pain, and he does not completely kill them off, unless he is angered in some way."

"Female victims, huh? I have always wondered why he would mostly be after girls."

"Think about it, Andrew. What are women like, stereotypically? We're weaker and more emotional than grown men, although some of us are physically and mentally tougher, and Nightmare Freddy took that opportunity to seek power and inflict pain on his female victims. It's funny to the animatronics when we're in lots of pain because of them." She sat up in the guest bed and kept the covers over her. "But kids are often vulnerable to being as emotional as us; it's not just women that would experience more emotions when attacked by these animatronics."

"That's true. Anyways, I'm glad to hear that you're happy that Nightmare Freddy is gone for sure. I hated seeing you in so much fear."

"I'm still scared--obviously--of these other animatronics, but yeah, I do feel better."

Andrew grinned at her. "Now that you're awake, do you want to rest more, or do you want to go ahead and stay up? I recommend you sleep more, but it's whatever you want to do."

Grace sighed and laid back in the bed. "I don't know. I'm kind of at that state where the thought of sleeping sounds great, but I also just want to lay here while staying awake."

Andrew stood up from the chair and moved it back to its original spot. "Well, I'll be downstairs. Just remember to call for me if you need something."

"Of course."

Andrew quickly opened the door back up and exited the guest room, leaving Grace by herself. He shook his head, fearing for her health and safety, and made his way back down to the living room.

He noticed Officer Evans standing in the room, talking to Janice and William. The cop kept taking nervous glances through the window as he continued to speak to them. Matthew saw Evans looking out and huddled up next to Sofia. She stared down at him and held him close to her.

"Is everything okay here?" Andrew asked as he stood next to Janice.

"We're still hearing these growling noises, and we don't know where they are coming from," Evans replied. "I just hope that the animatronics aren't really anywhere around here and that we're just hearing things."

"Well, I hope so, too. There is someone upstairs that I'm watching over, as she's not in the best shape, just because she's been avoiding these monsters. For three days--almost four--of no proper sleep, she is very sleep deprived, and I don't want her to get worse than the state she's in now. I want her to sleep for now, so she can get her schedule balanced out a bit, but if the animatronics are somehow near, I may have to go wake her."

"As of now, the chances of the animatronics being in this neighborhood are on the fence, so we're not sure if they are really around. We have some officers looking around right now. If we spot them, we'll have to let all of you leave. You are probably wondering why you may have to temporarily leave if the animatronics are found. If what you said about how they kill people is true, it may be too dangerous for even us to stay here; the SWAT teams will have to take care of them while we're gone."

"I won't have to go wake her then?"

"Allow her to sleep for now, but do wake her up if we're urging you to leave."

"Got that."

Evans nodded his head at him and Janice. "Allow me to head back to talk with my fellow partners. I need to see how far they went with their search."

"Yeah, go ahead." Andrew smiled at him.

As Evans left the house, Andrew closed the front door and leaned back against it, frowning and sighing. He closed his eyes, wondering how long this horrible nightmare would continue to last.


	43. Chapter 43

As the time soon reached three in the morning, Grace took her eyes off the clock and laid back in the bed, taking the sheets off to reveal her whole body. She quickly stood up and locked the bedroom door for some privacy. She picked up her work clothes, which she placed on the bed's headboard, and slipped back into them.

Grace unlocked the door and ran halfway downstairs, seeing only Matthew, Andrew, and Elijah sitting in the room. As the three turned to look at her, she glanced around the living room in confusion.

"You okay, Grace?" Andrew asked. "You obviously look spooked, and I don't know if something is up. Is there?"

"Where are my parents?" Grace stepped off the last of the stairs and felt him touch her shoulder, but she eventually took off his hand without looking at it. "What about Sofia and Amber? Where are they?"

Andrew stepped a couple inches away from Grace after his hand was released off her shoulder. "They are down in the basement relaxing. Not only is there a gun range my father created for himself, but there is also a pool table, hockey table, and--get this--a whole movie theater set. You are glad to entertain yourself if you really want to."

"As much as that cool opportunity sounds, I just woke up from my nap. I would love to try to distract myself, but I am a bit tired."

"Can't fall back asleep, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah." Grace sighed. "And it was stupid of me to rest in your clean guest bed when I haven't showered since my hospital stay. It may have not been long, but I think I'm in need of one. I am so sorry, Andrew! I haven't thought about that! Man, I fucking hate my mind right now; I can't seem to think until the last minute!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I clean the beds regularly anyways, just because they are hardly used at all. I think they would still get dirty in a way when they are unused, but either way, I always make sure they're cleaned thoroughly. If I'm ever caught up in a situation where I feel like anything--like the beds--needs cleaned while I am at work at the same time, I would occasionally hire one of those special cleaners that come to your house and act as a maid or something, although they're technically not." He crossed his arms. "Anyways, I'd transform the guest bedrooms into something else, but I mean...what am I going to turn those two rooms into? There is so much space in this house, followed by me being the only one here, that I may have to keep those rarely used bedrooms the way they are."

Grace remained silent, still feeling ashamed.

"If you want to shower, I'll be glad to allow you to use the one upstairs. I think I may have some bathroom products you can use. Now, before I take care of that, I have some spare clothes you can use. Come with me, so you can pick something out. Don't want to be wearing those same work clothes over again." Andrew turned towards the others for a moment. "Any of you need to clean up yourselves? There's another bathroom on this level if you need to use it. If you just want to clean up using small, quick products like deodorant, I have that stuff, too. No? Okay. Follow me, Grace."

She looked over at him as he began to walk up the stairs, and Grace followed right behind him. She rubbed her eyes from exhaustion and kept taking multiple glances back at the group in the living room. Matthew nervously smiled at her, and she gave another smile in return, although she was trying to hold back tears from the different emotions she was feeling.

Grace stopped as soon as Andrew reached a closet in the hallway upstairs, and she noticed a bunch of different products, all sitting on the shelves in the small closet. Andrew reached his arm out to grab a couple of the bathroom items and handed them to Grace.

"I don't know if you use this brand, but it's what I have for now," he told her.

"It'll work for now," Grace said as she grabbed the items. "You have any waterproof bandages by any chance? As I shower, I'm required to wear them over my injuries in order to prevent irritation."

"Uh, I may have something. Hold on." Andrew bent down to look through the rest of the closet. "Perfect! I found what you're looking for! It completely wraps around, if that's okay; it doesn't come with individual strips."

"That'll be much easier to put on, rather than multiple small bandages over each part of my injuries."

He held out a roll of bandages out to her, followed by some medical tape. "Need some help putting these on, or can you handle it yourself?"

"I can do it myself. Don't worry about helping me."

Andrew sighed as he closed the door. "Now, what size of clothes do you wear?"

"Um, I believe medium or large. My work shirt is a medium, and it fits fine. Sometimes, though, medium sizes can be too small for me; large sizes would work in that case."

"Okay, good. I have some t-shirts and sweatpants that are hanging around the house as spares. Do those clothes sound alright to you? It's all I have."

"What about underwear?"

"I don't have any. I'm sorry, Grace."

Grace nodded her head and anxiously laughed. "It's okay; I'll just go without. Who needs underwear anyways? They're overrated."

He grinned at her. "Right."

"Now, as you know, you don't need to worry about me not wearing underwear, even though as of now, it's that...time of the month for me. You probably heard that the hospital forcefully stopped my thing in order to decrease the chance of getting anemia, so if you worry about me getting those sweatpants dirty--"

"Grace, stop worrying. These spare clothes I have are nothing to me. You're welcome to keep them if you'd like."

"You sure?"

"Of course." Andrew started to walk away from Grace, and she stayed still, unsure about whether she should follow him. "I have some clothes in this room I'll pick out for you. Go ahead and clean up. Now, I'm not trying to sound invasive here, but I can just throw the clothes on the toilet seat while you're in the shower; hope you won't be bothered by that, or I can give you the clothes now if you prefer to have more privacy."

"No, I'll go ahead. You giving me the clothes while I'm in the shower sounds fair enough. Thanks a bunch of this, Andrew."

"You deserve it, Grace. Just saying." He peeked out from the room at her. "Sure you don't need help with those bandages? I know they can be a hassle to put on."

"But one of my injuries are right on my upper stomach...underneath my chest."

"Hey, if you're not comfortable with me touching in that area, I can at least help with your ankle injury, or do you got that yourself?"

"I'll just do everything myself." Grace adjusted the items she was given in her arms and turned away. "Again, I appreciate this, Andrew. You know, you are a really nice and courteous man, even considering you back off if a woman isn't comfortable with something; it seems like some guys--some--are so desperate to get a chance with a girl, kind of like my ex. You're the kind of man I rarely encounter in my life, and you're someone special. I'm not lying about any of this at all. Look, I just wanted to get that out of the way."

"Well, thank you, Grace. Maybe I should say that you're someone that is special and different to me, too." Andrew glanced a big smile at her before walking away from the room's entrance.

* * *

After stepping out of the shower and putting on a blue t-shirt and beige sweatpants, Grace looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her hair after washing it. She wrapped her breathing tube around the back of her head and adjusted the front of it until it was successfully set in her nostrils. Grace gently placed the two different monitors in her pockets and took one last look in the mirror, seeing if she appeared okay.

"I feel kind of weird wearing men's clothes, but it'll work for now," she told herself, laying her work clothes on one of her arms and opening the bathroom door with another hand.

Grace rushed downstairs to the living room and noticed the whole group sitting in the living room with Evans talking to each one of them. He kept mentioning the fact that everyone may need to leave the house, and this made Grace's heart speed up in fear.

Andrew spotted her slowly walking down the rest of the stairs. "Grace, there you are! How do you feel after your shower?"

"A lot better." She sat down next to him. "Is...everything okay down here?"

Evans stood up from the couch. "We are all still hearing noises around this neighborhood. So far, we haven't found anything, but we suggest you should still stay here."

Sofia rested her feet on the table in front of her. "Why don't we just leave? Come on, man! Obviously there is some animatronic around here if there are noises!"

Andrew pointed at her. "Get your damn feet off the furniture! You'll get it all dirty!"

She widened her eyes and placed her feet back on the ground. "I'm so sorry, Andrew."

He sighed and looked back at Evans. "I apologize about her. She gets a bit...I don't know."

Sofia nervously glanced at him, hearing his reply, and she sighed in embarrassment.

"No problem, Andrew." Evans laid his eyes on Grace. "Anyways, we are trying our hardest to find the source of this growling sound, but whatever is making it seems to hide by the time we think we found it. For now, you're still safe here; there is no danger at all."

"If we had to leave, where do you think would be a great public place to go?" she asked. "We've tried that mall, but the animatronics somehow caused chaos there."

"I suggest you get a SWAT team to transport you somewhere. I am a bit new to this job, even in this town, and I don't know what would be places that the animatronics won't cause any trouble. SWAT officers are very tactical and know about different locations that run a low risk of any hazards that the animatronics could cause. Some teams are already considering getting people out of their homes to those kinds of places, just so they wouldn't fall as victims. I suggest you ask a team to take you somewhere. I'm sorry that I don't know what they know--really, I am."

"It's fine." Grace stood up and peeked through the window, seeing two new police vehicles she never saw before. "Hold on. The actual FBI is here?"

"Yes. We called them out not too long after requesting their SWAT teams," Evans said. "However, they won't really be after the animatronics; they are here to get information about them."

"I'm guessing they'll get information about the animatronics, the SWAT officers will try to destroy the animatronics, and you guys--the local police--will...sort of help them? Is that what's going on or something?"

"In a way, that's all what is going on, but we're kind of backing off from the real action. Like Andrew here mentioned, we're not as protected as the federal officers. Besides, I heard there were some cops that supposedly were killed by these animatronics, even Andrew told me about his...father."

Overhearing the conversation, Andrew nervously turned his head away from them as soon as his father was mentioned.

Grace stepped away from the window. "Speaking of murders, do you happen to know if there were any tonight?"

"Believe it or not, I do. We all got over 30, almost 40, reports of people disappearing in the past three hours, and we think that all of these are from the animatronics. If you compare that to the first day these strange murders were happening, I believe that is roughly 500 people that were killed these past two weeks."

"That much?" Sofia yelled, suddenly jumping into the conversation. "Why did you all not do this beforehand? This is ridiculous!"

"Sofia, you don't need to shout at us." Grace crossed her arms. "And to your comment, the animatronics were extremely stealthy before, so it was harder to tell that they were actually real after the first acts they caused. Also, it is much harder to believe someone when they say that robots are the culprit, because it's like none of this crazy stuff ever happens; it's much more believable and obvious if a person says that a human was murdering others."

"That makes sense. I find it understandable that people would most likely believe it if a murderer was human. I mean, in the beginning, I thought the idea of robots killing people was crazy." Sofia looked away from Grace and blinked a few times as she stood up. "Shit, I thought I..."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just...saw something. I think it was like some...shadow. My eyes always play tricks on me, and I might have some problem with them."

"Are you sure it's an issue with your eyes and not your mind?"

"Look, Grace, only some crazy people hallucinate, even though their eyesight is fine. I guarantee it's just my eyes."

Andrew laid his eyes on her. "Sorry, Sofia, but I find it ironic that you said that. I really think you're delusional--I'm not trying to shame you here--and you really need a visit to a mental health counselor. Can't even realize for yourself that you're one of those crazy people--again, not to bully you; I'm just being honest. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better after several visits to a mental health center."

Sofia angrily stared at him. "This is my life, jerk, not yours! You stay out of it!"

"Why are you yelling at me?"

She began to burst into tears. "I don't know! I'm sorry!"

Grace walked up to her and began to hug her. Sofia hugged back and buried her face in Grace's shoulder.

"I was just trying my best to help her realize her behavior," Andrew mumbled and began to talk to Evans once again.

Grace eventually stopped hugging Sofia and sat her down on the couch. "You want some time alone with me?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sofia focused her eyes on Grace.

"Well, we can go to one of the bedrooms and just talk."

"Oh, I thought...you meant...something else." 

"What? What did you think I meant?"

Sofia anxiously laughed through tears. "You know...that kind of stuff..."

Grace shook her head and smiled. "You have quite the mind, Sofia."

Sofia grinned back at her. "What can I say? I've been a freak for eight years--I started sleeping with guys at 13, and I've been doing many things outside romantic, boring sex at that point--just mentioning that."

"13?"

"Young, I know, but I just loved it once I tried it. I may have sexually abstained for a couple years now, but I'm still that fun girl once I get back in the action!"

Grace was surprised by Sofia's short story. "Anyways, I'm only finding myself into guys, so don't worry about what you originally thought there. We'll go somewhere in this house to talk about you, if that's okay."

"Oh, you are straight?" Sofia got up from the couch and walked towards the staircase, and Grace followed her. "You're probably wondering why I'm asking that, and I'll say that earlier in my life, I may have been...curious."

"Curious about what?"

"You know...trying things with girls. I think I have only once, but that was back in high school."

"Are you still curious now, if you don't mind me asking?

"Not as much. I find it more hot when I do it with a guy."

The two girls finished climbing up the stairs, and the both of them soon went into the same bedroom Grace rested in. Sofia followed right behind Grace into the room, and they sat down on the bed for a short, detailed talk. 

* * *

Being left in the living room with Officer Evans standing beside him, and with the others in the basement, Matthew nervously glanced out the window to see all of the action outside. He later looked up at Evans, who was staring right back at him. Matthew immediately broke eye contact after a few seconds of silence.

"Something wrong?" Evans asked him, resting his hand on the couches arm rest.

"I'm just...scared from all of this," Matthew replied. "When are all of these Nightmares going to be destroyed for good?"

"We are trying our best to make sure the SWAT officers are going after them. I heard one of them was already captured and is currently being brought to a facility, supposedly where the government locks up some special stuff. Look, I am happy that he's gone and that he's being transported somewhere for answering some questions. He was a tough guy, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was the strongest, but there's a new Nightmare, and I don't know if he is as tough as Nightmare Freddy."

"It's okay, though, young man; we got this situation under control, and we'll also catch that new animatronic. We promise to protect you and your friends, too, okay?"

Matthew nodded his head in response.

He and Evans began to talk the rest of the time, with Matthew mostly talking about his life, until Amber suddenly ran up the stairs from the basement, screaming the loudest she could in an extremely raspy voice. The rest of the group followed right behind her.

Alarmed, Evans immediately rushed towards her and repeatedly asked her what was wrong, though Amber was breathing too quickly and couldn't find any words to say. 

Matthew jumped up from the couch as well, seeing what was going on, but he stopped running towards them and nearly screamed as soon as he saw her.

Amber's hands were completely covered in blood, and they were shaking violently as she held them out. She had blood also streaming down from her neck, which then stained her shirt. Blood stains and holes were found in the bottom of her shirt as well.

Evans was as shocked as Matthew. "Miss, what happened? Can you tell me?"

Amber tried to speak, but as she attempted to reply, she took her hands and covered her throat, coughing violently.

"Can you talk at all?"

She shook her head in silence and pointed to the front of her neck.

"Just help her!" Matthew yelled. "She's obviously bleeding!"

Evans reached out his arms to help walk her, but at the same time, Amber lost balance and collapsed right into his arms. He, almost losing his grip on her, quickly adjusted his arms and began to pick her up.

"We can't stay here!" Janice exclaimed, panicking as she walked towards the living room. "We were in the basement, and...something got her! I don't know how, though! I need to get Grace! Where is she?"

"Hold on a second!" Evans gently placed Amber on the floor with her body facing up towards the ceiling. "We need to temporarily control her bleeding! You don't want this girl to die, do you?"

"Well, no, but this tells us that the animatronics are definitely around!"

After asking Matthew for something Amber could lay on, Evans placed a hand underneath Amber's head and looked up at Janice. "Please be patient, ma'am. I am trying my best to help this young lady."

Janice sighed and rushed upstairs to find her daughter.

Evans quickly grabbed a pillow offered by Matthew and placed Amber's head on it. "Young man, get me a dry towel."

Again, Matthew ran away from the kitchen to find something Evans could use.

The officer began to speak his radio, giving the location of the emergency first. "We need an ambulance out here. We have a young female, roughly in her teens, a foreign citizen not from this country, bleeding to death from what looks to be punctures in her neck and stomach."

The rest of the group circled around Amber and Evans, each one of them watching in fear. 

Janice ran back downstairs with Grace and Sofia following her. While Sofia immediately shoved everyone out of her way to help Amber, Grace stood still as she kept her eyes on Amber's motionless body.

"Amber..." she whispered and covered her mouth in shock.

Sofia kneeled down on the ground next to Amber and began helping out Evans. "Hey, I have a bit of knowledge of being a doctor; I actually took classes in college for a bit before I abandoned them and moved onto psychology, although I feel like I should go back to being a future doctor, but I'm just indecisive. I still remember some of the tips of helping someone in a situation like this. Do you have a towel?"

"The child is getting one for me," he told her.

"Great! We'll have to press it right on her wound in the meantime to control her bleeding. Well, since it looks like she has multiple wounds, we need more towels."

Elijah eventually ran out of the kitchen. "I'll get some more!"

As Matthew returned with a towel, Sofia snatched it from him and soon pressed it against Amber's neck. She used her two fingers--her pointer and middle fingers--to apply pressure on the wounded area.

"You did call for help, right?" Sofia asked Evans.

"Yes, I did. There is an ambulance on the way." He helped Sofia press down on the towel. "They should be here as soon as possible."

Watching the horrific scene, Grace suddenly took off her BP monitor and walked over to Amber's body, sitting down on the floor and attaching the monitor to her arm. Grace noticed Sofia and Evans staring at her, but she soon ignored them and continued to set up the BP monitor.

"Look, she needs this more than me," she said as she began to take of her breathing tube. "Excuse me while I go clean this real quick. Amber also is in need of this."

"Clean or not, I don't think it's best to share breathing tubes," Sofia told her, still pressing down on Amber's neck. 

"My friend is dying, okay? She's really bleeding to death and could die before she gets to the hospital! Am I bleeding or dying right now? Of course I am not! I may still be recovering, but I'm not the one laying on the floor all wounded! Let me just help her, Sofia!"

Grace rushed over to a cabinet in the kitchen and found a box of antibacterial wipes. She grabbed it and pulled out an individual wipe, running it all across her breathing tube, and she kept taking her time on the nostril part of it. After a moment of cleaning it thoroughly, she ran back over to Amber, attaching the tube to her and starting up the monitor.

"Don't you two worry about me; like I said, my friend is dying here, and I'm not. Yes, I'm willing to give up my special hospital equipment for my own friend who could die any minute!"

The monitors that were now attached to Amber began to beep wildly at them. Grace watched as both of them read different numbers, and what was showing on each screen was lower than average. According to the oxygen monitor, Amber's breathing started to drop, but it increased as soon as additional oxygen from the monitor kicked in to help her. The BP monitor also showed her blood pressure decreasing as well.

"Okay, that's...that's good! She's getting some oxygen!" Grace ran her hand across Amber's forehead and began to cry. "Don't die on me, Amber!"

Sofia looked up at Evans. "How did this even happen? Do you know?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "She just came up the stairs towards me, screaming in pain. Her vocal cords may have been cut in some way, because her voice sounded like it was going out; she wouldn't even talk to me when I asked her what happened."

Sofia lifted up a corner of the towel. "Well, the middle of her neck is cut open."

She soon grabbed ahold of Amber's shirt and pulled it up, revealing her body stomach. The three of them were shocked to see what was engraved in Amber's stomach.

A strange letter was marked in her middle abdomen, and some leftover blood from the marking surrounded the letter.

"What the hell?" Sofia laid her fingers near the marking. "There's an F in the middle of her stomach. Is that even a sign that whatever got her was a human or something?"

"It's probably an animatronic, Sofia." Grace stared at the letter as well. "But it can be either Foxy or this supposedly new Fredbear animatronic that may have gotten her; both of their names start with this letter. Can't be Freddy, because he's gone."

"How do you know exactly who the new animatronic is?"

"I don't know. I'm just guessing, but Matthew said, for sure, that there's a new Nightmare out right now." Grace sighed as Sofia covered up the marking with Amber's shirt. "Just...try to survive this, Amber; I don't want to lose you! What would I ever do without you?"

After a few minutes of trying to save her, Amber's chest began to stop moving, and her oxygen monitor let out a different kind of noise that was unfamiliar to Grace, even the BP monitor created the same sound.

Evans leaned to listen to Amber's breathing. "She completely stopped."

"What?" Grace began to panic. "What do you mean?"

He lifted up his head and placed two fingers on her neck. "I don't feel a pulse either."

"Are you saying she is...no!" She stood up and ran into the living room, which she sat down on a couch and started to cry. 

"Grace, her body may have stopped, but we'll give the hospital staff a chance to bring her back." Evans shined a flashlight in Amber's eyes. "She's not even responding to this."

"Okay, but...how is she dead? Were you maintaining her bleeding just fine?"

"We were, but she may have bled internally. Internal bleeding can be very deadly and challenging to control." Evans placed his flashlight back in his belt. "Yeah, her body is not responding one bit. I'm very sorry, Grace."

Grace angrily pounded her hands on the couch and screamed, covering her face as she continued to cry. Janice and William rushed into the living room and sat down next to her to comfort her.

"There's no way she would be brought back!" Grace yelled, staring at Evans. "If she's gone, she's gone! It's already too late, so there's no point of calling an ambulance! She's just dead, okay? Dead!"


	44. Chapter 44

Grace took one last look at Amber's now lifeless body through the kitchen entry as Evans soon ran up to her, pulling her off the couch and begging her to leave.

"Grace, there really may be an animatronic here!" he warned her. "Look, all of you must leave right now! Let me and my partners take care of Amber for you."

She kept glancing at Amber and him. "I still don't know where to go."

"Anywhere! Just--" Evans turned towards the group. "--you all leave this house and go somewhere safer; anywhere at this point would work!"

"But...Amber..."

He patted her shoulder. "I promise that we will take special care of her. Go! Leave now!" 

Grace, with tears running down her face, quickly walked over to the entry to the kitchen and looked down at Amber's body. "I hope you're brought back, Amber. I don't want to imagine what it'd be like if you are gone for sure, but I guess...I should say goodbye, because I'm worried you won't be here anymore. As crazy and hyper as you always were, I've always loved you like you were a sister. I'll...miss you."

Evans moved himself over to her. "We got her! Leave, Grace, before you're killed!"

She nodded her head at him and motioned the rest of the group to follow her. Sofia was still in the kitchen with Amber, but she stood up and left Amber to be taken care of by Evans and his fellow partners.

Grace pulled the front door open, and all seven of them ran outside to their vehicles. She stopped as soon as she reached Andrew's car and placed both of her hands up mid-air. 

"Alright, we have to think of a last-minute place to go!" she said through quick breaths. "Whoever says one thing first...we're going there! We are not wasting our time on this!"

"We could try any building downtown," Elijah suggested. "Anywhere with lots of people would be safe. I know the mall had many people, but a different place would be worth trying."

"Good enough!" She placed her hands at her sides. "Let's go!"

Janice grabbed her arm as she began to turn away. "Grace, sweetie..."

"What?" Grace asked, staring back at her mother.

Janice hesitated before answering her. "I'm proud of you."

"The hell you mean?"

"Well...you're so strong in situations like this. Don't think you are weak, because I know you are a very tough girl. I thank you for helping this entire group survive these animatronics; it seems like you know what you're doing."

"Cool. I appreciate that, but...the only thing I don't know about is what would be a great safe location for all of us to hang out at." Grace laughed as she continued to have tears stream down her face. "Look, Mother, we just need to leave, okay? Now isn't the time for all this sweet talk! Amber was stabbed by an animatronic, and clearly one of them is here...right now! Let's not try to die!"

"Yes. I'm sorry." Janice ran back to her car. "You're riding with Andrew, I'm guessing."

"I am. Just follow us, and we'll lead you. Andrew pretty much knows his way around town."

Grace allowed Matthew to enter the car first, and right as the child adjusted himself in the middle, she got in behind him. Andrew eventually sat down in the driver's seat and closed the door, soon turning on the car.

The Corvette's engine roared after Andrew turned his keys to start it up. He looked in the rearview mirror and then out the window, seeing if everyone else was ready to go. 

"I think we are ready to go," he told Grace and Matthew, placing a hand on the gear shift in the middle of the car. "Where did Elijah say to go again?"

"I don't know," Grace replied. "He just said somewhere downtown in another building. Let's find one that is open with lights on and go there. I prefer we go to a place where there would be more people."

"Won't the animatronics cause more problems?" Matthew added, staring over at Grace. "I'm worried the busier places would make us easier targets. Didn't you say that now people know they're real, they would no longer hide themselves? I know we'd be safer in a bigger area, but we're going to be targets."

"No matter where we go, we'll always be targets, Matthew."

"He does have a point, though," Andrew commented as he began to drive off. "The more people in an area, the more easy it is for the Nightmare animatronics to kill off a bunch of people. I know what happened at the mall, and there was at least...a hundred people there."

Grace sighed. "I think we're in a tough situation here."

"What do you mean?"

"I just...I care about other people's safety, but I'm scared about dying as well. I don't want another incident to happen like what occurred at the mall; it hurts me to see people getting killed or hurt. I don't know, Andrew! I'm...I'm confused!"

"Grace, easy there. What are you confused about?"

"Never mind what I said. We'll be in danger either way, whether we go to a busy or isolated place." Grace kept crying, resting her arm on the passenger door. "I'm still sleep deprived, so I'm not thinking right. And look at me, too; I'm crying over these animatronics! Fucking animatronics, Andrew! This is pointless!"

Matthew placed his hand on her arm, looking up at her with concern.

"Look, these animatronics are much different than your typical animatronics on stage at entertainment places," Andrew told her. "I'm a bit stressed and emotional over them, too, because the fact that they can stab their claws through your whole body or bite you until you bleed to death scares me. Should we even count them as animatronics anymore, because they're just plain monsters? Now, what do you say that after the time hits six AM, you're welcome to come back to my house and sleep for a while to calm down? I'll be glad to call into your workplace for you, because I think you still need a break. Well, before I actually plan on doing that, how was your performance at work yesterday?"

"It was okay, I guess. It was average, but it was also pretty good for me not sleeping in a while. I did make more mistakes, and I tried to stop any upcoming panic attacks because of those mistakes, too. Maybe I did better than before."

"How does a break sound to you?"

"For once, it'll actually be nice." She managed to slow down her fast breathing. "You don't need to call in; I'm the employee there, so it's my responsibility to tell my boss--oh, wait. I think he said that I don't need to inform him every time I'm off; I believe I heard something from him about me just staying away from work until I'm better. I can't remember, though."

"Whether he did say something or not, I'd still call in."

"Yeah. Wouldn't hurt, but again, Andrew, I can call myself in at work. Don't worry about taking care of that yourself."

"You sure?"

"I'm absolutely sure." Grace dried her tears with one of her hands. "I'm sorry that I'm stressing so much over these animatronics. I know that you also are worried about them, but...they are still animatronics."

Andrew sighed as he drove the car further from the gated neighborhood. "Grace, don't make me give you this long speech about the Nightmares. To shorten it up, all I'm going to say is that they may be animatronics, but they're monsters. There's no need to feel ashamed about being afraid of them, because I'm scared of them as well."

"I am afraid." Matthew hugged her by her side. "I think they are monsters to me, too."

She looked down at Matthew and hugged him back. "Sorry, Matthew. I'm...just a mess right now, and I'm sorry to you as well, Andrew. No sleep can really mess with your mind."

"Yes, it really can." Andrew quickly turned the steering wheel, causing the sports car to lean towards the opposite side as it went around a corner. "I know that I'm speeding again, but these animatronics probably will catch up to us with no problems."

"Going over 100 miles per hour again?" Grace asked, hanging on for her life as he kept turning around sharp corners. "Are you sure you're able to get around without the cops chasing us? Speeding is worthless, too, because I know the Nightmares will catch up to us, no matter how slow or fast we go."

"I understand that, but we're at more risk if we take our time getting somewhere."

She remembered about the other vehicles following them. "For fuck's sake, Andrew! Slow down! Let the rest of the group catch up!"

"Oh no! I forgot about them!" Andrew pressed his foot against the brake pedal, hearing the car's tires screeching as it slowed down. "I'm so sorry! I was just--dammit! What was I thinking?"

As the car came to a stop, he looked out the window to see if the other cars were following them. He smiled as he noticed the other vehicles speeding up behind him, which all of them started to slow down once the drivers saw his car.

"They're here," Andrew said. "Don't you worry. I apologize for getting carried away; I am worried about these animatronics as much as you are, and I completely lost my mind."

"And I thought I was the only one here with a messed up mindset." Grace nervously laughed. "I'm joking, but in all seriousness, I guess we both have crazy mindsets, huh? We're all forgetful at least once in our lives."

"Yeah, and that was one of those moments." Andrew signaled the other cars to continue to drive, and he started to take off again at a slower speed. "Just so much is happening, Grace, that keeping up on multiple things at once is overwhelming, and I can't really think about so many things at one time. Anyways, let's try to survive this night, okay?"

Andrew proceeded to drive in the direction of the downtown area, though he still had a bit of a distance to travel. Limiting his speed to only 70, he kept his eyes open for any signs of the animatronics or any police officers that were perhaps going to be in his way. Grace was looking around, too, fearing that there was maybe a Nightmare chasing them, though she wasn't too sure if she was right.

The more that Andrew drove down different roads, the more Grace noticed him getting anxious. She laid her eyes on him with concern, wondering if he was alright. Despite her easy nervousness and emotional problems, she was also worried about Andrew's emotional state.

Andrew drove his car towards an intersection and saw vehicles flipped upside down in the middle of the road, blocking the whole way. He stopped his car before it could hit any of them, and the cars following his slowed down as well. 

"What's going on here?" Grace asked. "Why are there no cops seeing this incident? Also, this is our only way to the downtown area!"

"Look, I know how curious you are, but whatever you do...do not leave my car!" Andrew exclaimed. "Whether you were thinking about that or not, don't do it at all! I'm starting to fear that a Nightmare did this, and if this was recent, there may be one here now near us. I don't want you killed!"

"We could cheat and drive on the--oh, the sidewalk is blocked, too. Never mind."

"This street also looks deserted; there's no one else here, and I don't see anyone on the opposite side of those cars." Andrew shook his head. "Let's just turn around and maybe find another way."

"This is our only way, though."

"Grace, we'll get to the downtown area; I know that we will. We just need an alternative route."

Grace eventually spotted something on each one of the flipped cars and pointed in front of her. "I don't know if you can see it, but there's a letter F carved into each one of those cars. Wait, what does that last vehicle have?"

"What?"

"That last one says...'Better run. I am near.' Uh, we need to go! It's obvious that an animatronic wrote that, but I don't know who! Doesn't sound friendly, of course!"

As Andrew pulled back on the gear shift to send the car into reverse, Grace noticed a huge shadow walking towards the flipped vehicles and alerted Matthew and Andrew about it. As it moved underneath a street light, the three saw an unfamiliar and new animatronic staring at all of them. It crept closer to the car and growled at them, its bright eyes glowing.

"It's Fredbear!" Matthew yelled. "I knew Freddy told me there was a new animatronic!"

"Nightmare Fredbear, huh?" Andrew kept staring at the animatronic in fear. "He looks a lot more aggressive than Nightmare Freddy, but maybe that's just me."

Nightmare Fredbear soon placed his hands on one of the cars and lifted up the front end, throwing the vehicle at Andrew's car. Grace and Matthew screamed and huddled together as the car missed the Corvette. Andrew had his head ducked down and lifted it up as soon as the car landed upright beside his own vehicle.

"Go, Andrew!" Grace hollered at him. "What the hell are you doing sitting here?"

He immediately backed the car up and turned around, signaling the group to follow him. The other cars turned around as well, driving right behind him.

Grace looked back and noticed Nightmare Fredbear following all of the vehicles. "Andrew, I'm letting you speed this time, but do tell the others they'll have to go fast as well! He's following us!"

"Are you serious?" Andrew glanced in the rearview mirror, noticing the animatronic going after them, and leaned a hand out the window to remind the others. "Okay, be prepared for a race! I'll try to keep it at a decent speed, though, so the others don't have to worry about breaking down their cars; I know that this car is appropriate for races, but their cars aren't."

He stepped on the gas pedal, and the Corvette's engine roared loud, speeding and going 20 miles per hour over the normal speed limit. The cars behind his eventually sped up as well once the drivers noticed how fast he was going.

Andrew took more sharp turns around corners, nearly flipping his car over from moving his steering wheel around so much. Strangely, Grace had fun driving around with the windows down--hearing the loud, unmuffled sound of the car--and the Corvette reaching top speeds, despite being in a dangerous and stressful situation. Matthew held onto her in silence, afraid of how fast the car was going. 

"I forgot to say two things," Grace told Andrew, while trying to withstand the jerky and quick movements of the car. "For one thing, your car sounds like a beast when it's going this fast.. Does it have a muffler, or do you not have one on it? Also, I can't believe I didn't realize this, but is the interior here...custom made?"

"My car does not have a muffler at all;I don't remember what happened to its original muffler," he replied. "And yes, this interior is all customized. I can tell you that this was not cheap at all, but I still was able to afford it. You like the black and red theme I have going on here?"

"Yeah, I really do, and I like how some of this stuff isn't found in standard Corvettes, like the radio looks a lot different. I also remembered that the doors open up instead of at the side; now, that's a very, very nice touch to this car. Can't believe I was so tired that I didn't notice all of this; it seems as if I don't realize things until the last minute."

"You're fine, Grace." Andrew kept racing down different roads. "Now, can you please be quiet for a bit? I'm trying to focus here."

"I'm sorry."

At one point, Andrew stopped in the middle of a road to think of another route to take. He nervously looked back in the mirror and noticed Nightmare Fredbear hiding around the corner of a building. He blinked a few times, trying to get the image of the animatronic out of his head, and continued to speed down the road.

The three soon found themselves in front of multiple places that were normally busy during the day, but they were all quiet and empty during the early morning hours. Andrew sighed and leaned back in the seat. 

"What's the point of finding a place to hide out?" he asked and pointed at the buildings. "Look at this! They're all closed right now!"

Grace stared out the window as the other cars stopped behind them, seeing that one was missing. "Not only are we in trouble for that...but uh...where is my parents' car?"

"Wait, what? Weren't they just following us?"

"Yeah, but their car isn't here." She began to cry as--being able to see in the darkness--she noticed blood stains on Nightmare Fredbear's teeth and stomach. "No! I hope he didn't..."

"What's wrong, Grace?"

"Um, I'm not hallucinating here, but Fredbear has blood on himself that wasn't there when we left. I think he may have...fuck! No, not them! First, it was Amber...and them now? No!"

"What?"

"Andrew, I...think he may have killed my parents."


	45. Chapter 45

"How do you know they're dead, Grace?" Andrew asked, looking in the rearview mirror as the animatronic kept switching locations quickly. "I don't see any blood stains on Nightmare Fredbear at all."

"That's because you're too busy driving," she told him. "I see the stains with my own eyes, and although a lack of sleep can cause hallucinations, I'm not going crazy here! If my parents weren't dead, then how come the stains suddenly appeared? No one else was around us, so it couldn't have been a random person...or people. It's just funny that my parents' car disappears out of nowhere, and the next time I catch a glimpse of Nightmare Fredbear, he has blood all over him!"

"Okay, maybe he does have blood on him, but personally, I can't see the stains."

"Just...keep driving." Grace hid her face in her hands. "I...can't believe this is...happening! They're...really dead, Andrew! I'm not joking or anything! Nightmare Fredbear did get them! Why?"

"I'm sorry that occurred, Grace. Look, if you want to talk to someone about this in your free time, I'm here, as I know another Nightmare killed my father; you're not alone in a way. If you don't want to talk to me, you also have your friends if you prefer them; I am not going to complain if you'd rather speak to them." 

She dried some of her tears. "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer talking to Sofia; she is the one with mental health knowledge in our group. I know you may think she's a demon, but she does have her sweet and angelic side. She can give really great advice when someone is struggling with something, like I heard she was great with Matthew when he talked about his problems."

"Go ahead and speak to the girl with red eyes and a halo. As long as she will make you feel better with great mental health tips, that's all that matters. I am not patient with extremely mentally unstable girls like her if she was talking with me; this is just my own problem, though."

"For acting like a psycho, she is pretty calm and mature when giving some advice. You'd think a lot of mentally ill people can't think properly, but Sofia does put effort in her advice."

"But she does flip sides, Grace. One moment, she's all careful and calm--yet also acts as if her mental health issues never existed--but by the next, she's not thinking before speaking or acting, she's threatening to hurt or kill others, and she's also more moody. I'm not sure if she even truly knows her two different sides, but whether she does or not, you were right about her being both an angel and a demon."

Grace hesitated. "By the sounds of that, it sounds like she has multiple personality personality, but it kind of makes sense that she also dresses in different styles. Haven't you noticed that? Seems like she dresses all innocent and decent during the day, but as of now, she's looking like some street-smart bad girl. Not sure if it's something she is just going along with, but it's like she dresses in those different ways based on whether it's daytime or nighttime and mostly acts based on whatever her appearance is like; as of tonight, she's dressing like a bad girl when really...she is acting like it. Kind of weird, if you ask me."

"I never noticed that. I may have to keep my eye on her if that's happening for a certain reason." Andrew eventually stopped his car. "Alright, this race is over. Looks like we are at some...huge shopping place that is open now."

"I wonder how we were able to speed that whole route and not get one cop on us," Grace commented as she exited the car. "Maybe a lot of the cops in this town are too distracted by the Nightmares."

"That could be the reason." He watched as the other two cars pulled up behind his. "Okay, the rest of the group is here. Good."

Sofia was the first to exit her car. "Oh, there was some fucking terrifying monster back there. Also, I am sorry about the fact that I may be going blind here, but where is the third car that was following you, Andrew?"

Grace and Andrew nervously looked at each other, and Matthew stared up at Grace with fear and concern.

"Is...something up? What's wrong?"

Grace sighed. "That new animatronic...got my parents, Sofia. I really think he killed them, because I saw blood on him by the time I noticed my parents' car was gone. I know for myself that there is a big chance they're gone for sure, because where else did that blood come from?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious about this. I wish it...never happened. First, I sacrificed my hospital equipment--that assisted with keeping my health balanced out--just to help save Amber, but she was already dying and is gone now. Now, my mother and father are no longer here as well."

"I'm so sorry."

Grace kept feeling tears run down her face. "It's fine. I'm old enough to legally take care of myself, so I can do my own responsible things. Just with them gone, do I...still live at my current home or what? Andrew's in the same situation, but he's got enough money to keep his family's house, unlike me."

"I'd say let the house go, Grace. You're welcome to move in with me. We can just be housemates, if that's a good idea to you."

She glanced over at him. "What? You do really mean that, right?"

"Yes, I mean it. I would be glad to drive you to work every day, as I don't work until the afternoon hours on various days, and I'd be happy to do all these other nice things for you. Sometimes, I cook my own food, so I'll be happy to provide you food, too."

"Please don't try to spoil me like that, Andrew. I can live with you, and I appreciate the kindness, but there are a lot of things I can do and pay for myself. I'm responsible enough to be a real adult."

"I'm sorry, Grace. I didn't mean it by that in any way. Of course you can still do things on your own, but sometimes, there may be those moments where I can help."

"Yes, you could help me when I need it, but I was just saying."

Sofia closed her car door and looked around the area. "Alright, where is this Fredbear monster? I could tell he was chasing us the whole way. Man, is he some fast motherfucker."

"He's fast, but it seems as if he's more aggressive than Freddy," Grace told her, standing next to her. "Did you see the car he lifted up with both hands? He also threw that vehicle at us! I think Nightmare Freddy could have done the same, but Nightmare Fredbear really knows how to show his hostility more towards humans."

Sofia laughed. "He's got that more evil appearance, too."

Andrew noticed a few pairs of glowing eyes hiding near another building. "Speaking of the animatronics, we got company here."

Grace laid her eyes on all four of the Nightmares' eyes. "Oh, they're all here? I think we need to get to our safe spot now!"

"Logically speaking here, they can see us right now," Sofia added. "I mean, we can run inside, but they will be able to see where we're going."

"Seeing us or not, they always know where we are." Grace glanced over at Andrew. "Hey, can you call the cops and see if you can get a SWAT team down here to help protect us? Looks like you're the only one with a phone."

"I can do that." He pulled out his phone. "While I'm doing this, let's go in! These animatronics could attack us any minute!"

The entire group ran into the store as quickly as they could, trying their best to avoid all of the Nightmares. Sofia, being in the front, ended up tripping over a sidewalk curb, and Grace stopped running to help her up. Sofia lost some of her balance as she stood up, but the two girls were then able to continue their way into the building.

Being the last one behind the rest of them, Elijah suddenly let out a loud scream that caused the group to stop what they were doing and see what was going on. The sight made Grace's heart race faster.

"Elijah!" she yelled in fear. "No! Not you!"

Nightmare Fredbear held Elijah against his will on the ground. He raised one of his sets of claws in the air and leaned his head at Elijah, preparing for his attack. The other Nightmares stood behind him, watching what was going down. Elijah struggled to get Nightmare Fredbear off, but the animatronic kept holding him down.

"Guys, do something, please!" Elijah kept trying to fight of Nightmare Fredbear. "He's going to kill me! Help!"

Sofia sighed and stepped out onto the road, soon looking back at the group. "I know Fredbear likes to sing. Let me distract him."

"What are you doing?" Grace whispered, grabbing onto her arm. "He may go after you now."

"Look, do you want your friend dead or something?"

Grace remained silent.

"That's what I thought." 

Sofia eventually cleared her throat, which immediately caught Nightmare Fredbear's attention. She folded her hands in front of her, closing her eyes. After a few seconds of silence, she began to sing a random song that Grace did not know.

Nightmare Fredbear stared at Sofia as she kept singing in her deep, yet beautiful, voice. Grace was fascinated by her voice, as she's never heard Sofia sing before. While the rest of the group kept their eyes all on Sofia, Andrew was still in the process of calling emergency services.

The more Sofia kept singing, the more Nightmare Fredbear lost interest in Elijah. The animatronic slowly stood up on his feet, still keeping his eyes on Sofia, and Elijah quietly snuck his way back to the group, trying not to get Nightmare Fredbear's attention.

Sofia stopped singing and glanced at the group. "Okay, I had him distracted! In the store now!"

All of them ran into the store, and Elijah closed the door behind them. An employee noticed one of the other Nightmares trying to get in, and she moved Elijah aside, locking the door.

"What are you thinking?" she asked. 

Elijah looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry. We're just trying to find a safe place to stay from these monsters."

"No way in hell are you bringing them into my store!" The employee crossed her arms and shook her head. "Some of the other people here are hiding out, too, so be glad you're not the only ones here. If those animatronics took another step on here, I would've thrown you all out, and I wouldn't care if you got killed! Whatever, though. Just...enjoy yourselves."

As she walked away, Elijah quickly blinked a few times in silence. "Someone is snobby."

"Everyone may think I'm crazy or a moody girl, but that bitch is...well...a bitch." Sofia laughed. "She has problems."

Grace sighed in relief. "Sofia, I wanted to say that I never heard you sing before. I'm going to be honest about your voice; it's not as great as famous singers' voices, but it still is pretty damn good."

"Yeah, I don't think I sing like a professional either; I'm often told that, but if you still liked it, I'd be happy about that."

"You know, that method could have worked on Nightmare Freddy, too, if we were in a similar situation with him. His one counterpart is the lead singer at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza." Grace patted her shoulder. "What song were you singing by the way?"

"Can't remember the name, but it's one of Elvis Presley's songs. I'm a huge fan of that guy."

"Are you? So am I!"

"That's nice to know." Sofia peeked through the store's windows. "I love how tough these windows look; the animatronics can't even find a way in. They're all able to lift cars, but they can't break a single window. I'm actually happy about that, though."

Grace looked through the windows with her. "That's hilarious. Let's just hope they do not actually try to break the windows, because...you know...that will cause trouble."

"No shit!" Sofia turned back to see a few other people casually walking around the store. "Hey, you all here because of the animatronics? It's okay! They're all trapped outside! They can't get us!"

"For now, they can't," Grace mumbled. "They probably will break in at any moment."

"What was that, Grace?"

"Oh...it's nothing."

Grace sighed as she leaned back against a wall, staring at the animatronics, who were all struggling to get inside the building. Nervous, she sat down on the ground and wrapped her arms around her legs, anxiously waiting for the rest of the night to be over.

* * *

"Why did you bring me here again, Michael?" Matthew asked, looking up at his brother in fear. "I know my birthday party's today, but I told you that I wanted it canceled."

"Well, it's nearly lunchtime, and I already brought you here to Fredbear's to get food and celebrate your damn birthday," Michael replied, placing his Foxy mask over his head. "Too late now. You're stuck with me."

"Just take me home! I thought you'd be nice to me for once, but I know you'll treat me the same way as you did Before! You're a monster, Michael! Let me go home...or at least to Grace!"

"That bitch ain't seeing you no more!" He quickly slapped Matthew across his face. "She's my ex now, and because she won't see me anymore, I'll never let you see her again!"

"I knew it! You were always a bully to me!" Matthew began to cry. "Be glad I never trusted you when you apologized to me; yes, I never still trusted you! You're just a liar!"

Michael laughed. "It's so funny to see you crying like the baby you are."

"I hate you, Michael! I hate you!"

Not too long later, Michael's friends walked up to Matthew with their own Freddy Fazbear character masks on, too. All of them started to stare Matthew down as he continued to cry.

"What are...all of you doing here?" he asked them. "Michael, you never told me your friends were coming."

"Does it look like I care?" Michael asked. "Why does it matter what I do? These are my friends, not yours."

Noah crossed his arms and chuckled at Matthew. "Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn't he?"

"Yes, it's hilarious!" Michael exclaimed, hitting Matthew in the face. "He likes Fredbear, you know. Why don't we help him get a closer look? He will love it!"

Matthew felt his heart race, suspecting that something would happen to him. "No! Please!"

"Come on, guys! Let's give this little man a lift! He wants to get up close and personal!"

After a couple seconds of silence, Matthew suddenly felt Michael and his friends grab him by his arms. Matthew noticed he was being lifted off the ground, and he spotted himself being carried away from the area he was in before.

Matthew watched as the two animatronics, Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, started to appear closer and closer to him. He let out more tears and also began to scream. Michael and his friends continued to carry him towards the stage and never let go of him.

"No! I don't want to go!"

Michael ignored his little brother's comments and proceeded to still carry him with the help of Ethan, Noah, and Joshua.

"You heard the little man!" Michael yelled excitedly. "He wants to get even closer!"

He let out a loud laugh as he still helped his three friends take Matthew to Fredbear and Spring Bonnie.

Once they all reached the stage, Michael began to come up with an idea. He smirked as he started to present his malicious idea to his friends.

"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss! Let's throw him up there! One three--one...two..."

Matthew soon felt himself being thrown into Fredbear's mouth. As he landed there, the animatronic's mouth began to get stuck with Matthew's head in the way. The child tried his best to break free, but there was no use; he was stuck up there for good.

Eventually, an incident made Michael and his friends stare at Matthew in horror, unable to do anything from the shock they were all in.

The child felt Fredbear's mouth slowly close in on his head, and he let out an extremely loud scream as the mouth kept tightening up. His head began to grow more with pressure as Fredbear's mouth was closing in on him. Before Matthew knew it, he felt his vision blurry, and he also felt himself to be no longer conscious.


	46. Chapter 46

"How did you sleep, Grace?" Andrew asked, walking into one of the guest bedrooms after seeing she was awake.

Yawning, Grace sat up in bed and smiled at him. "A bit better than the previous times I struggled to get some decent sleep. What happened early this morning was just crazy; it almost feels as if it was just a dream."

"Look, be glad that store we were in was a safe place," he said and handed Grace a plate with food on it. "Here. I made you a combination of breakfast and lunch, since it's near 11 in the morning. Also, I did you a favor and washed your work outfit while you were still asleep."

"Andrew...you made this for me, and you cleaned my work clothes? Thank you for all that!" 

"No problem, Grace." 

She stared down at the bed. "Are you okay with me eating here?"

"Yeah, you don't need to get up. Enjoy yourself. I'll bring in your work clothes soon to you, because I think they're still drying."

"As much as I appreciate the help, you didn't have to do all of this for me." Grace began to eat the meal he made her.

"But you are currently in an unhealthy state; after the beginning of your lack of sleep and your injuries from Nightmare Freddy, I just had to help you out here. I know you're still healing." Andrew sighed. "After dealing with the animatronics this morning, I never had the chance to sleep myself, but at least I had enough energy to do a couple things for you. Grace, I only wanted to do you a favor."

"Why didn't you sleep? Still terrified of the animatronics? I mean, I am, too, but even though I slept, I didn't really...sleep a long time." She paused as she chewed her food. "And...thank you for the help...again. Really, I appreciate it."

"You deserve it, Grace."

Silence hit the room for a moment, but Grace broke it right after. "You work today?"

"No, I'm on one of my breaks." Andrew hesitated. "After what happened to Amber and your parents, you do not have to go into work if you need a few days to mentally recover; I understand that you may need time to grief. If you want to go ahead and work, I'll be happy to drive you to Fredbear's if you'd like, or would you rather take public transportation? I don't want to come off as rude here, but you are still exhausted, and I'd let you drive my car, but I don't trust you getting behind the wheel right now; even in general with any vehicle, you're better off just getting a ride."

"I'm not sure yet about everything with work and whether if I want to go or not. If I do, I know I'm still not...functional to drive there, but let me think about it."

"Alright, just let me know when you made up your mind. I'm going to check to see if the dryer is done, okay?"

Grace nodded her head at him and watched as he exited the room, leaving her by herself. 

As she was done eating some of her food, she reached over to the phone on the table next to her and picked it up with one hand, beginning to dial a number. She placed it up to her ear and patiently waited for an answer.

After what felt like a while, a young man on the other side picked up, beginning to talk to her with an exhausted and raspy voice.

"Elijah, it's me...Grace," she told him. "Hey, I am sorry if I woke you by any chance, but I just wanted to know if you're going into work today. I don't know yet if I am, with everything that happened, but I wanted to check with you."

"I was sleeping, but I'm getting up anyways," Elijah replied. "I'm considering not going into work myself, just because I was almost experiencing my death a few hours ago. I understand why you may need a break yourself; I know what happened to your friend and parents. I am sorry that happened to you. If you do want to talk, I'm here; we can both stay home and just chat over the phone."

"I'm tempted on going into work today; I'll be doing stuff around the diner, and that normally gets my mind off some things." Grace set down her plate on the table as she began to sit on the side of the bed. "Thanks for the offer, but I won't be able to talk to you today if you're staying home, unless if I'm on my lunch break."

"Don't force yourself to go into work. If there's one person here that definitely needs to work, it's me. I may have been tackled by an animatronic not too long ago, but you've had more stuff happening to you, and you have a clear reason to stay home. Well, whatever. I'm just staying home anyways, because I'm scared of what happened to me."

"Speaking of that, I never knew if you were hurt in any way. Sofia seemed to be checking you out to see if you were injured--kind of nice we have someone with medical knowledge in our group--but I don't think she found anything. You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. No injuries were found on me, luckily. I feel bad for you, though, because I know you were hurt by Nightmare Freddy, and you're the only one right now who was really injured."

"I'm not the only one; my friend, Lauren, was hurt as well. She may have not been directly attacked by an animatronic, but she was injured by that mall incident caused by the Nightmares. Do you remember that?"

"Oh, yes, I do. She just got a terrible burn, right?"

"Right. I mentioned it to Sofia while we were in the store, and she thought Lauren got a third degree burn. The first time I saw her burn, it did actually look like that."

"Ouch. Burns like that are not fun. I hope she's doing okay."

Grace stood up from the bed. "I don't know. Thinking about it now, I may just take a break from work and pay her a visit in the hospital to see how she's doing. You want to come with?"

"Not sure, Grace. I'm still exhausted from being up so late. How about I call you soon and see how I feel?"

"Alright, no problem. I'm going to call into work to let my boss know I'm taking a break. Talk to you soon, Elijah."

Grace hung up the call and began to dial the number for Fredbear's Family Diner. She placed the phone's speaker up to her ear and waited for someone to answer.

Nothing.

Confused, she took the phone away from her ear and dialed the number again, seeing if someone would pick up this time.

Still no answer.

"What the hell?" Grace asked herself.

After a third attempt, she still never received an answer. Giving up, she set the phone back on the table and grabbed her plate, continuing to eat. At the same time, Andrew walked into the room with Grace's work clothes in his hands.

"Andrew, I made my mind up," she told him. "I'm not going into work."

"That's fine. You called your boss at all?"

"I tried three times, but I never got an answer."

"Strange. Doesn't he always pick up, or are there times he hardly answers?"

"It seems like he always answers whenever I call him. Look, I'm sure he knows that I'm home anyways because of my problems. As long as he knows that, he'd understand why I'm not there at work." Grace grabbed her clothes from Andrew and set them on top of the dresser. "I may want to visit Lauren in the hospital and see how she is doing. Remember what happened at the mall? She got that horrible burn and had to be hospitalized for it."

"Sounds like a plan. I can drive you there if you want."

"You can. I'm not ready to go yet, because I still want to finish up my food and get dressed. Plus, I was calling Elijah before, and he's staying home as well, but I offered him to come with me--er, us,I meant. I have to wait for him to call me back. I'll let you know if he wants to come along."

"Alright." Andrew grinned at Grace and left her alone in the room again.

After finishing up her food, Grace went through the guest bedroom dresser--where Andrew stored all her clothes that she brought from home--and picked out a random outfit. Still exhausted, she got out of her pajamas and into her outfit.

She walked over to the window and stared out of it, thinking about her parents and Amber. The thought of them made her heart break, and she nearly cried again from replaying their voices in her head. Their deaths were so sudden for Grace that she pretended as if they weren't actually dead, but once she thought twice, depression grew within her, and she felt like she was nothing without them.

Grace admired the other expensive looking homes outside of the window. The only house that looked the biggest was a home resembling a mansion off the opposite side of the neighborhood. The house appeared to have four or five stories with a pool in the backyard and a floral arch over the start of the front sidewalk. Grace smiled at the beautiful appearance of the house, and her mind was soon taken off the darker stuff.

She turned away from the window, still smiling, and ate the last of her food, which was a blueberry picked off from some pancakes Andrew made for her. Grace grabbed the plate and walked out of the room towards the kitchen.

Andrew watched her, being in the same room as her, as she carefully placed the plate in the sink after rinsing it off. She looked back at him in silence as he soon focused back on doing his own things, leaving Grace standing there in confusion. She shook her head and walked away from the sink.

With Andrew sitting at the table in the dining room, Grace made her way into the room and stood next to him, causing him to lay his eyes back on her.

"I forgot to ask, Andrew," she said, feeling a bit of fear. "Do you know where Matthew is? I know he was with us this morning, but he's not here."

"I let Sofia pick him up and take him to her house," Andrew replied. "Look, I figured she could watch him for one day, because although she is crazy, she is great and calm with kids. I'm sorry if I should have said something."

"Yes, you should've." Grace rolled her eyes and walked over to the entrance of the dining room, turning around to look back at him. "I realized just now that he was gone, and I had a miniature heart attack. Please tell me that stuff next time, so I'd know."

"I'm sorry, Grace. I will remind you next time, promise."

She sighed at him. "Anyways, you ready to go? I didn't really put on any deodorant or comb my hair, but I'm tired; I don't really care at this point."

"Yeah, hold on. I'm reading the last bit of this newspaper story." Andrew widened his eyes as he stood up. "Look at this, Grace! Your drawings of the animatronics made it in the newspaper!"

"Let me see that." She snatched the paper from him and looked over the photos of the animatronics. "You weren't kidding."

"That's good, though, because everyone can see what they look like."

"Think about the damn kids, Andrew. How would they react to those photos? It's nice that people can see what the Nightmares look like, but the children may be terrified if they see those pictures."

"True." 

Grace kept reading over a story printed underneath the drawings. "'The animatronics shown in the sketches made by local resident, Grace Thompson, are said to be incredibly dangerous and deadly towards humans. For additional information, it is speculated that men, male adolescents, the elderly, and children are more vulnerable to becoming victims. Women and female adolescents, however, are murdered less for unknown reasons. For the safety of everyone, citizens should be cautious and alert, and everyone should be awake between the hours of 12 and six AM, as these are the hours the animatronics are believed to come out.

'Thompson claimed to have encountered one of these mysterious animatronics face-to-face before she was attacked. She survived the attack, after being rushed to the hospital for an abdominal injury, and showed the authorities her accurate sketches of the animatronics, who are all now named 'Nightmare' following their original counterpart's name. 

'As of now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent out their SWAT teams to help hunt down these mysterious animatronics. According to a team of these officers, one of the animatronics--who is the only one said to be programmed to communicate with people--has already been captured by a SWAT team to be questioned about the person that built him and the others. This animatronic, being named 'Nightmare Freddy' by Thompson, was also believed to be the most dangerous and active animatronic, as many citizens recall spotting an 'almost seven-foot-tall robotic bear' hiding in isolated areas of town, while reports of the other animatronics were not as common. Thompson also suspected that Nightmare Freddy has killed more citizens than the other Nightmare animatronics.

'One notable statement from Nightmare Freddy that Thompson remembers: 'Humans like you are not as strong as we are.' With his ability to communicate, the FBI will find out who built the animatronics that have been causing chaos, and the local police will hunt down the suspect, only after the Nightmare animatronics are destroyed, and take him in for a trial, either at a local courthouse or a federal courthouse.' Alright, I'm going to stop there. There's still so much to the story. Also, how'd they know what Nightmare Freddy said to me? Unless I may have mentioned that quote to an officer."

"I don't know, Grace, but I know that any newspaper reporters may want to interview you some time, so keep that in mind. You do know a lot about the animatronics."

"You and my friends do know about them, too; I'm not the only one here who knows how they behave and this other shit."

"You are right, actually, but I still have no complete knowledge of them, and neither do you or anyone else. Only their creator knows what weaknesses they have and this other detailed information. We just know the basic stuff."

"If only we knew their weaknesses, that will help us stop them. Think about that. My only guess is that they may not be water or fireproof, so water and explosions will destroy them for good. Matthew told me before that the only detailed thing we know about the Nightmares is that they're bulletproof; he said that before your father was killed, he tried shooting at Nightmare Freddy, but that damn animatronic easily withstood the bullets being fired at him."

"Sounds like whoever built them is a mastermind. For being the 1980s, bulletproof robots are definitely something very special. I mean, look at my history; according to my education records, I have zero experience with building robots or similar things, only law stuff, and I thought I was a smart man. Whoever made the animatronics definitely makes me feel like I'm an idiot."

"Why? You thought you were very smart in your school days? But you are still a smart guy. Don't say that you aren't."

"I was on top of my classes in junior and senior high school, but after my family problems occurred, I lost motivation in everything; that's when, at one point, I dropped out of college before becoming a 911 operator. Before the bad stuff occurred, I thought I was the smartest guy in school--even out of the other school districts near mine--but I was also intelligent enough to not rub that in people's faces all the time. Seems like as if I'm not as smart as I used to be just hearing about the animatronics' creator. Well, I just have average intelligence, I guess. Some people are smarter than others, you know."

"Facts." She set the newspaper down on the table. "Anyways, can we go visit Lauren?"

"Of course. Go ahead and get in the car. I'll be out soon."

* * *

Grace and Andrew quickly walked through the hospital entrance, and they were soon greeted by a front desk lady. Grace leaned her arms on the desk and began to speak.

"Is there a patient named Lauren Gray here?" she asked her. "I heard she was transported to this hospital. I'm a friend of hers, if you're wondering."

"Let me check real quick if she's in," the lady told Grace and started to pick up the phone next to her, talking to someone on the other end. "Do we have a Lauren Gray admitted here?"

Silence hit the room between the three of them for a moment.

"Alright. Perfect!" The lady set down the phone. "She's on the second floor in the burn unit in room 192. If you want to take an elevator--" She pointed to the opposite side of the main room. "--it's right over there."

"Cool. Thank you."

Grace and Andrew rushed over to the elevator, and while he pressed a button to go on another floor, Grace looked around the hospital, admiring how big it was.

"Nice looking hospital here," she commented. "Much bigger than the one I went to."

Andrew stared at the elevator as the doors opened. "I agree. The one you were transported to wasn't anything too fancy. Doesn't matter what a hospital looks like, though; all that matters is if the staff at one of them will make sure you're properly taken care of for good."

Grace followed him inside the elevator. "I know, but I just had to say something about this place."

As soon as the elevator reached the second floor, Grace and Andrew exited it and began to walk towards the area with the different rooms. She reached out her hand towards the doors as she kept walking, trying to find Lauren's room. As soon as she spotted room 192, she signaled Andrew to come towards her, as he was standing far behind her.

Grace knocked on the door. "Lauren, are you in there? It's Grace."

A voice replied from the other side. "Yeah, I'm here. You don't need to knock; you can just come in."

Grace pushed down on the door handle and noticed Lauren sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, her leg wrapped in bandages. Smiling, she grabbed a pair of crutches, that were laying against the wall next to her, and she carefully stood up on her unharmed leg, placing her arms over the crutches.

"I bet you are probably thinking about how it looks like I broke my leg, but I cannot place any pressure on my one leg; it hurts so much," Lauren said and moved herself over to Grace using only one leg. "I have to use these temporarily and avoid doing a lot of activities. Seems like my parents will be helping me while I'm on these for a couple of weeks. How about you? How are your injuries doing?"

Grace lifted up her shirt halfway to show Lauren. "These are still swollen and scarred. It may have been a short time, but I know they're not healing right away."

"And your foot injury?"

"That one is still healing, too." She let go of her shirt and looked down at her injured leg, folding down her sock to reveal the five holes in her ankle. "I haven't been wearing my brace lately--bad idea--but without it, I've been walking and running on this just fine."

"Good to see that you're doing better. My burn is probably going to take as long to heal as your injuries will."

Grace frowned as she stood back up. "But what if the Nightmares are after you? You can't run from them on your leg."

"That's when I drive around the whole town until six AM; it's kind of like playing a game of Tag, except I'm always being chased by the one who's 'it.' You and I got hurt on the same leg, and both our right legs are available to use to drive with no problems. No worries. I already have my method of avoiding the animatronics."

"Look, if you think that'll work, go ahead." Grace sighed. "Considering you're injured, I know that makes you more vulnerable to the animatronics."

"Driving will most likely work for me. With that, I'll be moving around at full speed without having to worry about escaping the animatronics on an injured leg."

Suddenly, a knock at the door made Grace jump. She turned her head back and was surprised to see who was standing there.

"Ethan?" She paused, staring back at Lauren, and then exited the room, closing the door behind her. "The hell are you doing here? How'd you know where I was?"

"First of all, I'm surprised that you're not going into work," Ethan replied. "Second of all, I was able to tell where you were, because I was already here at the hospital on this very floor. I heard your voice and thought I'd come see you."

"Okay, but is there something you need? You looked...a bit nervous when you first walked in the room."

"Yeah, I was." He looked down at the ground in silence, almost as if he was going to cry. "I need to talk to you about something, Grace, and it's something horrible that...I don't think Michael will tell you."

"Something horrible? Well, what's going on?"

Ethan refused to answer for a few seconds and focused back on Grace. "Michael...did something to Matthew. He...he..."

"What did he do to him?"

"Because of his stupid actions, Matthew...had his head bitten down by the Fredbear animatronic at the diner. He's in...critical condition."

Grace stared at him, unsure what to say. "Head bitten down? Critical condition? What do you mean? Are you saying he...has a deadly brain injury or something that could easily kill him?"

Ethan nodded his head in response.

She shook her head at him and smiled, beginning to cry herself. "No! You are joking with me! He is not hurt like that! You're just telling fibs!"

"I wish I was, but unfortunately, I'm serious. Matthew may not make it."

She stopped smiling and raised her voice. "You're lying to me! You are! There's no way Matthew is..."

Ethan watched as she placed her hands on her head in distress. "I'm telling the truth. I'm sorry."

"Fuck! Not him now!" Grace slammed her hand on a wall next to her. "Where is he? I need to see him!"

"He's being operated on now. You can't actually get close to him."

"Then where's Michael? I need to teach that asshole a lesson!"

Ethan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Follow me. I'll be happy to lead you to him."

Grace angrily followed Ethan as he walked up to an elevator. He waited impatiently for the doors to open, and when they did, both he and Grace entered it in silence.

The elevator lowered down to the first floor, and Ethan kept staying in front of Grace, leading her towards the operating room Matthew was in. 

Grace felt her hands clenching into fists as they came closer to the room. Her heart raced from both fear and frustration as Ethan opened the doors to the operating room hallway.

"Michael!" Grace yelled loudly, tears still running down her face. "I know you're here! You're dead to me! You're a fucking dead man!"

As soon as she spotted Michael, she ran up to him, screaming in anger and pushing him against the wall. 

"What the hell is wrong with you? What did you do to Matthew?"

"Grace...I didn't mean..." Michael felt himself running out of breath.

"Didn't mean what? Tell me now!"

He never answered, and he began to cry as well.

"Tell me!" Grace tugged on his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "I said...tell me now! Don't you be crying like a baby! Oh no, did I just call you a 'baby'--the same name you called Matthew all the time? Sucks to be you! Man up, and tell me what you did!"

"I...I...it was my fault he's here. I...thought it'd be funny to...let Matthew get a 'kiss' from Fredbear."

"So, you decided to somehow make the animatronic crush his head? Did you throw him up there? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Yes, I am. I...I am a douchebag."

"You are damn right about that!" Grace lowered her voice. "Now, answer another question I have for you. I was told that Sofia was watching Matthew. How did you take him from her?"

"Let me answer that for him," an unexpected voice said.

Grace noticed Sofia standing at the end of the hallway with her knife in her hand. She started to walk closer to the small group and smiled at Grace.

"This bastard thought it'd be cool to fight me for his little brother." Sofia evilly smirked at Michael. "The child stood next to me in the doorway when I kept demanding Michael to leave my property, but he attacked me and took Matthew with him. You broke my nose, you jerk. How'd you feel if I do the same?"

Grace let go of Michael, and Sofia took over by holding him against the wall. She formed one of her hands into a fist and threw it against Michael's face. He screamed in pain and cursed at her.

"You deserve that." She took her knife and held it against his neck, while using her other hand to pull on his shirt. "Now, I think this is something you also deserve after what you did to Matthew. Would you like me to slit your throat open and cut your blood vessels? You'd be bleeding both inside and out, and I'd just laugh at you while you suffer."

"Sofia, be careful," Grace warned her. "There may be security guards around here."

"Fuck security guards." Sofia lowered her voice to a whisper. "Grace, I worry more about Michael suffering pain, like what Matthew dealt with beforehand. Michael, I do not care how much you show me that you're suffering, and I also would not care how much you tell me you are sorry; you deserve to suffer."

"He does." Grace smiled at Michael. "You definitely do, Michael. Hate to be shady here, but it's the same thing with Sofia; I would not feel sorry for you if I sit here and watch you bleed to death."


	47. Chapter 47

Grace peeked through the operating room window and watched as a few doctors rushed to attempt to save Matthew. She pressed a hand against the window and felt more tears running down her face. 

"Matthew..." she whispered. 

Turning back to look at Grace, Sofia kept holding onto Michael, threatening him more. She looked back at him and let go of him, demanding him to stay put.

Sofia walked next to Grace and watched through the window, too. "I'm sorry Michael had to do this to Matthew. Young, immature guys like him don't know what they're doing when they have fun; they only get themselves into trouble."

"This isn't going great for me, Sofia." Grace turned away from the window and sighed. "I already lost three people I loved in almost four hours. If I lose Matthew, too, that'll be four in a matter of 12 or 13 hours. Losing that many people close to you in that time...doesn't sound like a good thing. As if I was depressed enough already about losing one person, I just feel more angry and fed up with losing multiple people in a short amount of time."

"I'm sorry, Grace." Sofia walked back up to Michael. "At least I hope this bastard here gets tortured in prison. I heard somewhere that criminals are often mistreated more for doing things against children. I hope you're one of those prisoners that are constantly being beaten up and thrown around like you're nothing; I'd love to hear about that."

Michael never said anything.

She kept getting closer to his face. "Would you like it if other prisoners around you put you in your misery? After all that you've done to Matthew, you deserve to have a group of men tougher men put you in your place. You really need to feel the same pain that you put Matthew in."

"I...I don't want that...to happen..."

"Too late. You have done enough damage to Matthew, so you deserve to be treated the same way you treated him, but maybe prisoners will be twice as rough with you. I'll make sure that after you serve your time, I'll hear about your experience with the prisoners. I may not have been in prison myself--I was on probation for a couple years, though, in my childhood days--but I'm sure after you leave, you'll be afraid to treat anyone the same way you treated Matthew."

"I'm already scared...about...what I have done."

Sofia laughed at him. "Boo-motherfucking-hoo. Life sucks, doesn't it? Accept the damn fact you killed your own brother and that you will have to be punished for it. Your sob stories won't work on me, Grace and her friends, or the cops either. What has been done...has been done, and you can't go back to change it."

"I...am sorry! I don't know what...got over me!"

"There's a thing called 'think before you act or speak', you jerk. Ever heard that?"

"Yes, I have."

"Then why didn't you think first? I don't believe you heard that saying before." Sofia fixed her hair, which was curly and had strands laying down on her shoulders. "Michael, you may stay here, but later, I'm turning you into the cops."

Michael felt his heart drop. "No! I don't want to go to prison! You can't do this, Sofia! What I did to Matthew was a mistake!"

"'Mistake.' What a lame excuse. No matter what you did, whether on purpose or accident, you still did it." She grabbed his arm and tightened her grip, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "You may regret what you have done now, but I'll make sure you regret even more. Before you know it, you'll feel completely worthless like the guy you've always been. You will feel like complete shit by the time you leave jail, and everyone you know will turn you down because of what you did. You'll have no one, Michael, and I'm sure if your friends were a part of this, they'd eventually ignore you for the rest of your life, since it was your idea to kill Matthew. Stuff like this cannot be forgiven, Michael. Your future life is screwed, and I do not feel sorry for you. You've landed yourself into this mess, and you can't get out; there's no way to change everything that you've done."

Michael cried more as he closed his eyes, nervously looking away from her. 

Sofia backed up from him. "Keep that in mind. No one...no one at all will forgive you for what you did. You're forever going to be a loner, and I'm happy that you will be."

Standing further down the hallway, Ethan chuckled at Michael. "She is right. I was a part of this, but I never expected this kid to get killed. You're fucked up, Michael, because you knew that 'kiss' was going to kill him; I didn't, though. Good luck in jail, you jackass."

"Ethan, man, you're my best friend!" Michael yelled. "You can't be against me! You just admitted that you were in on this, too!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't the one who came up with the idea to let Matthew get a 'kiss' from Fredbear." He stood next to Grace and Sofia. "I'm with these ladies now. You are all on your own. Sorry."

"You can't be serious!"

"But I am." Ethan looked over at the two girls. "You need additional help with these mysterious animatronics you've been seeing at night? Count me in. I prefer being with you two, and if you have others working with you, than to deal with that jerk over there."

Michael kept staring at his friend in shock. "Man, please! I love you like a brother! Are you really going to turn me down like this?"

"Shut the hell up. Of course I am." Ethan shook his head. "Don't even count me as a friend anymore, because our friendship is done! When you go to prison, I won't miss you at all...my ex-best friend."

"Ethan, please!"

"Hush up, baby. I don't want to hear you complain about your bullshit stories. I've told you before--you knew that the 'kiss' would hurt Matthew. How can that be a mistake? You are clearly a murderer, and I can't believe I've been a best friend to someone who would not only bully his brother but kill him as well. You're sick, Michael, and I don't mean that in a good way."

Sofia walked closer to Michael. "I'm usually told that I'm psychotic--which I think I'm slowly realizing that I am--but you...you seem crazier than I am, and you don't have the same mindset as I do. Personally, I don't hurt others, unless they hurt me first. You, though, caused all this nonsense to Matthew, despite him not actually doing anything to you. Saying this as a mentally unstable person, you have way more issues than I do. Just think about what I said there."

Michael remained silent for a moment. "I realized I didn't do anything to you, though. Why are you angry with me?"

"You may have not bullied me or anything after we first met, but you hurt me after you mentioned how poorly you treated Grace. What monster decides to degrade his girlfriend for no reason? What monster thinks it's cool to bully his own brother to the point where he nearly kills him? Look, Michael, I may be into being degraded as a sexual thing, but to me outside of the bedroom, that is wrong when you use that opportunity for no reason whatsoever on someone who truly loved you! Grace showed as much love as she could to you, and you never returned any of that! You think you may have, but you talked shit about her behind her back; that is not what a caring boyfriend does! Both that and you treating Matthew with disrespect are obviously why I'm frustrated with you!"

"I'm...sorry for everything."

"No, you're not. I feel like you're the kind of guy who pretends to be apologetic, but really, you don't care about what you do to people. From what you did to Matthew, it sounds like you never took the chance to bond with him; you continued to mistreat him."

As the moment between Sofia and Michael continued, Grace walked away from the window, leaving Ethan to stare at her with concern. He ran up behind her and touched her on the shoulder.

"Hey," he said. "I don't know where your one friend is, but I was wondering if you wanted to walk around the hospital for a bit to help you get your mind off...you know. If not, we can go do something else, like there's a roller skating dome just down the road; we can go skating for fun."

"Andrew's in the cafeteria right now; after you told me to follow you down here, I could have sworn I heard him say he was going to eat in the cafeteria," Grace replied. "Either way, I don't know about a walk or other activities. I may just want to leave here soon and go back home with Andrew to his place."

"You're living with him?"

"Yes, I am. Not too long ago this morning, I lost my parents to one of these vicious animatronics. I can't continue to live at home, because I don't have access to my parent's bank account, and I hardly have money in mine. I wouldn't be able to financially support myself there, so Andrew offered me to move in with him."

"You should visit a bank sometime and talk about your situation with your house."

"Why a bank?"

"Typically, banks do lots of stuff when it comes to homes and money. If you're still unsure, I suggest calling a real estate company and see what you can do from there."

"I'll consider it. Thank you for the advice."

Ethan smiled at her in response.

Grace stopped walking and turned back to look at him. "Anyways, I'm going to find Andrew. I...just want to go home after everything today--losing my best friend and parents to the same animatronic, almost losing Matthew because of Michael, and...I don't know. I'm also still a tired mess from staying up for three days straight."

"Sorry about all of that, Grace."

She began to burst into tears again as the thought of her dead loved ones came to her. "I'm frustrated at this point, especially with Michael. Forget taking him to prison; I am tempted on befriending a Nightmare and getting him killed by them. Oh, don't fret; I'm only joking. Ethan, I'm not that shady, but that is just how fed up I am with him."

"Do it."

"What? Shit, I am not that crazy. Next thing I know, I'll be almost turning into Sofia."

Ethan lowered his voice. "You do want Michael to suffer pain as much as Matthew did? At least have a Nightmare attack him to near death."

"Ethan! No!" Grace yelled. "I'm not doing that! That sounds too dark for me! He just deserves time in prison, and like what Sofa said about him being treated in a way by the prisoners, I prefer him to just be dealing with those guys than some killer animatronics! I still hate Michael, but I'm not insane enough to kill him; that's not my thing!"

"Okay, fine, but personally, I'd like to befriend one of these robotic monsters and watch Michael bleed to death after being attacked by that animatronic. It's what he truly deserves."

* * *

Grace opened the front door to her empty house and soon closed it behind her, examining the living room. She cried as she noticed Iris running towards her, the cat appearing as if she was hurt.

"Iris, oh my God!" Grace picked up the cat and hugged her. "I'm sorry we weren't here to take care of you, but I'm here now, and I'm going to take you somewhere with me! You were with my parents before, but how'd you get here? Maybe they had to drop you off to prevent you from getting killed; I think that's why they were far behind our car, but that doesn't explain why there was blood on Nightmare Fredbear."

Iris meowed as Grace continued to hold her.

"It's okay. Before I take you with me to Andrew's, I'm going to drive you to the vet. You look hurt, and I want to make sure you haven't broken a bone or something."

She kissed Iris on the head and turned away to head back out the front door, but Grace looked back, thinking for a moment.

"Should I leave your stuff here? Well, I think I'll only grab your toys and food and water bowls. I'm not worried about the other things."

Grace carefully set Iris down and walked away from the house entrance with Iris following her, limping as she ran. Grace noticed a couple toys laying across the living room floor, and she bent down to pick them up. Iris pawed at the toys as Grace lifted them off the ground.

"Hey, chill out," Grace laughed. "You'll be able to play with these later."

Iris brushed her tail against Grace's leg and meowed as she kept following her into another room.

Grace grabbed the container of Iris' food and emptied her food bowl. Ignoring Iris for a few seconds, she noticed the water bowl was already out of water, and she picked it up, stacking one bowl on top of the other.

"I won't worry about the other things; Andrew will just buy new ones," Grace told Iris. "Come on. He's waiting for us outside."

Grace spotted Andrew closing the front door as soon as she entered the living room. She smiled and set down Iris' bowls and toys.

"Are we ready to get Iris out of here?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I am," Grace replied. "Can you carry her things? I hate to say, but she looks injured, and I want to make sure she's being carried carefully. If it's okay, can we stop at a vet's office?"

"How can you tell that she is hurt?"

"Well, she's just limping. I don't know if she broke something or what, but I want to make sure nothing is wrong."

"Alright, we can do that. After what happened this morning, it's best to get her checked out anyways, even for the smallest things." Andrew crossed his arms. "She's a cute cat. I can tell she is a Siamese, but any specific kind?"

"She's a lilac point." Grace watched as Iris kept rubbing her head against her legs. "I think cats like her are pretty. I know people have different tastes in cat breeds, but to me, Siamese cats are cute as hell. The only thing I don't like about these cats are the bald cats; I have no idea why I like this breed but also hate the hairless ones."

"But like you said, everyone has their own preference. It's not a bad thing to like Siamese cats, but you aren't interested in the bald kinds."

"I know." She sighed as she picked up Iris. "Look, let's just get out of here. I don't want to stay much longer, because I'll just be reminded that this house is empty and gives off that feeling of being lonely."

Grace and Andrew exited the house, and while he started to put Iris' bowls and toys in his car, Grace stopped to look at the side of her house. She was surprised to see Nightmare Freddy's message still written on the wall, but the blood he used to write was more smeared than in the photo Janice took. Grace nervously held onto Iris as she examined the message.

Andrew saw her staring at the wall and walked over towards her. "You okay, Grace?"

"Yeah, I am okay." She never took her eyes off the wall.

He glanced over at the message. "That's what you are looking at now? Grace, that Freddy animatronic is gone. Don't worry about him going after you anymore."

"I know that, but just seeing this makes me think of all my moments I came across him--everything...from him calling me names, to actually attacking me. He really wanted me dead, but it seems like he still took the opportunity to see me suffer for a longer time, rather than just immediately making me suffer in pain for a few minutes and then die. That's what he enjoys doing to a lot of his female victims; he likes to see them emotionally suffer, because as the stereotype goes, we're weaker."

"Fuck stereotypes. You're much stronger than you think you are, Grace. Nightmare Freddy said that negative stuff about you to put you down, but anything he said to you was just bullshit. Deny that all you want, but I'm being honest."

"I'm slowly accepting the fact that it's pointless to listen to an evil animatronic. When I was letting his insults get to me, though, I thought he was being completely honest with me, but looking back at it, I shouldn't have listened to him." Grace sighed. "But that's the thing; I mentioned he was evil. Doesn't give a damn about men, women, children, anyone. He's that guy who would attack a small child and laugh at them as they slowly start to die; that's how much of a heartless bastard he is."

Andrew hesitated. "Not meaning to upset you by bringing it up again, but you'd think Sofia's trick could've worked on him or the others?"

"The only thing that would work on the Nightmares is Sofia using her singing voice, but I think the ones she would attract easily are the animatronics with original counterparts who sing." Grace laughed. "With her other idea, I'd think Sofia would be dead by the time she would lure them in near her. I know Nightmare Freddy wouldn't fall for that, as he is just one intelligent animatronic. Look, I have seen enough horror movies of women running around with hardly any clothes on while a killer is after them, and it seems like a majority of those killers aren't fooled by the girls being in their underwear, so why make the girls nearly naked? Well, movie creators have to add that sexual stuff in for the money. Logically speaking, I also do not see why Sofia would have to do the same towards the male animatronics when she's still going to be in danger. I don't want to think about her in that kind of situation now, though; I still find her idea...I don't know. It makes me say, 'What the fuck,' to myself."

"Yeah, it is a bit crazy. Wonder what goes through Sofia's mind when she comes up with ideas like that." He patted her shoulder and walked away from her. "Come on, Grace. Let's go ahead and take your cat to the vet."

"Okay, I'll be there. Hold on." Grace took one last moment to look at the message, feeling stress from hearing Nightmare Freddy's voice in her head, and soon followed Andrew to his car in silence.


	48. Chapter 48

Michael leaned back against the side of his car and nervously watched as a police car pulled up to him. Sofia kept a grip on his arm and squeezed it tighter as she held onto him, preventing him from trying to escape. The police officer driving the car stopped the vehicle and stepped outside, taking a closer look at Michael.

"Sofia, I can't go to jail!" Michael mumbled. "I'm serious when I say that what I have done was a mistake!"

"Mistake or not, you still hurt your brother." Sofia tightened her grip around his arm. "Now, you'll have a nice, long chat with this officer."

"Please! Just tell this cop you have the wrong guy or something!"

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way for me. I don't lie to any authority figure at all."

"Sofia! I can't handle being in jail! If everyone I love hears about what I did, they'll be extremely angry with me and probably not talk to me ever again!"

"Well, this is real life, Michael. I do not care what your loved ones think of you by the time you're released from prison. You brought yourself into this mess, and I'm making sure you're not let out of it now."

The cop walked closer to Michael and placed his hands on his hips. "Are you the guy responsible for that child's death at Fredbear's Family Diner? This lady claims it was your idea to throw your brother up in one of the animatronics' mouths. Is that true?"

"N-No! It-It's not true--"

"It is true, but he won't accept the fact that he is a murderer." Sofia tugged on his arm. "We--me, his friends, his ex-girlfriend, and his ex's friends--all know that he has a history of bullying his little brother. Well, it seems like that bullying went too far, and then while at Matthew's birthday party, Michael thought it'd be fun for Matthew to get a 'kiss' from Fredbear."

"No! She's lying to you man! I haven't done anything wrong to my brother!" Michael felt himself having a panic attack. "She has a history of being in a mental hospital! She is psycho and crazy, alright?"

"Psycho, but I'm sane enough to recognize when some douchebag treats both his ex-girlfriend and little brother with disrespect. I also have knowledge with medical and psychological stuff, so I know when I see someone being treated poorly by someone else. You know, not all of us mentally unstable people are 100 percent out of our minds; we still are smart enough to see some things in other people."

The cop set his arms at his sides. "Young lady, gather up your witnesses to back up your claim. Mister, you are going to pay a visit to the local prison downtown. We'll hold you behind bars and set up an appointment for a trial."

"You can't be doing this to me, man!" Michael soon felt his arms being pulled back by the officer. "Sofia is lying to you! She just wants me to get into trouble for no reason!"

"Oh, panic attacks are definitely something, aren't they?" Sofia smiled at him. "They're an obvious sign that you're trying too hard to make your side of the story seem believable; I'm not fooled by it."

The officer still attempted to grab Michael's arms, struggling to do so as Michael kept breaking free from the cop's hands. "Don't fight back. You don't want me to call backup, do you?"

"You got the wrong guy, man! I haven't done shit to Matthew!"

Sofia crossed her arms. "Stop resisting, Michael. You're making things harder for yourself."

"Please give me a chance! I swear, I'm telling the truth!"

The cop finally got ahold of Michael and walked him over to the police car. "Before I take you, though, I need to make sure you're not carrying anything on you. You have any weapons or other stuff on you?"

"No, I don't."

"Place your hands on the car and spread your legs apart, please."

Michael sighed, following the officer's orders. "Alright, but you're still making a huge mistake here."

The cop patted him down. "Okay, nothing so far. Now, once I am ready to take you down to the prison, you better not fight me again; I will call for more officers if you do that."

"Sure. Okay."

Sofia watched as the cop was done checking over Michael. The policeman grabbed onto his arms again with one hand and pulled out handcuffs with the other. Michael turned his head around, seeing the pair of handcuffs come out from the cop's belt.

"You're going to put me in those?" he asked. "Dude, I still have no idea what I did wrong! Why are you arresting me?"

"You know what's up, Michael." She smiled at him. "Lots of people saw you run out of the room after Matthew had his head bitten down. Also, since my friend, Grace, works there at Fredbear's, there are security cameras in the party room. She will make sure her boss gets the footage, and I guarantee that the one guy in that video, who planned on letting Matthew get a 'kiss,' will be you. Just face it, Michael--after that video of you is shown, no one will ever believe your side of the story."

"There are cameras, huh?" The officer locked the handcuffs in place. "Make sure you do get that footage, Miss."

"Oh, I'll definitely make sure the video will be shown. I will have to call my friend first to see if she'll get her boss to have access to the video." Sofia laughed. "After what you've done, Michael, you're in a lot of trouble now, there is also no turning back."

* * *

Later that day, Grace noticed Iris running around Andrew's house, playing with her toys. The Siamese cat meowed as she batted at one of the toy balls, and she started to chase it once it began to roll around the floor.

Grace sighed of relief. "I'm happy the vet didn't find anything in her. If she had a broken leg or something, I would've been really upset."

"And although she's not my cat, I would be a bit depressed myself." Andrew set down Iris' food bowls in an empty corner of the living room. "Is this place okay?"

"That will work. Her other things, like her litter box, can go in one of the spare rooms you don't use at all. Actually--" Grace stood up from the sofa. "--why don't we make one of those rooms all for Iris' stuff? We can put her litter box, bowls, toys, and even that new cat tree and bed we bought for her in that room. How about that?"

"I think I only have one room that's empty right now." He picked the bowls back up. "Let's just do that instead."

"You need help?"

"No, I'll get everything set up. Besides, it's almost two in the afternoon, and just for my personal opinion, I think you should rest now until dinnertime, or you could stay up if you want, but it's up to you."

She continued to watch Iris play with her toys. "I don't know yet. For not getting a lot of sleep, I feel pretty alert."

"Whatever you want to do."

Grace walked closer to him. "I'm staying awake. Are you sure you can get everything set up by yourself?"

"I promise that I got all of this. Give yourself a bit of a break, Grace."

"If you say so." She sat back down and noticed Iris jumping up on her lap. "Well, hi there."

The cat began to lay down on Grace's lap and stretched her body out, purring as she rubbed her head against Grace's legs. Laughing at her, Grace started to pet Iris.

"I forgot to ask, too," Andrew said as he went over to the pile of Iris' new things. "How old is she?"

"I've lost track, but she's roughly four or five years old. She still acts like a kitten despite her age; it's hilarious."

"Where did you get her?"

"Just one of the shelters downtown. My family picked her up when I was still in high school, and actually, it was my parents' idea to get a new family pet; you'd think it would normally be the kid begging for a cat or dog." She stopped petting Iris and frowned. "Poor thing never had the best life growing up. The shelter employees said that Iris supposedly grew up with a family that neglected her, her mother, and her siblings. She was picked up by another family who promised to take care of her, but that was a lie. Iris was constantly passed from family to family until the shelter finally got her in when she was about a year old. Now, she is in this family who won't turn down that promise to not neglect her for a stupid reason. I know I left her this one time, but that's because we had to fight off the Nightmares."

"Sorry about Iris there. Now, who came up with her name?"

"I did. She was named something else when my family got her, but I suggested to them that we'd change it. I didn't know what to name her in the beginning, but I realized then that she had these really beautiful eyes. Basically, I named her after her two gorgeous looking eyes. Crazy, but the name itself, too, is beautiful."

"Agreed." Andrew walked over to the other side of the living room. "Hold on a second, Grace. If you still want to talk, I'll be out soon; for now, I need to get Iris' things set up."

"Sorry. I'll let you take care of those."

Grace kept watching as Iris nervously stared at Andrew, once he started to leave the room. 

"For being in a new house, you are doing pretty well, Iris."

The cat meowed in response, not looking at her.

"Yes, you are." Grace giggled. "Your meow is so cute, you know that?"

Iris started to walk away from her and began to look around different rooms of the house, but she eventually ran back into the living room.

Grace stood up from the sofa again and followed Iris into the kitchen, soon opening the refrigerator to find something to eat. Iris turned her head back, hearing the door open, and began to meow at Grace. 

"Andrew is getting all of your stuff set up. He'll get you some food soon."

Iris continued to meow at her.

"Dammit, Iris." Grace laughed and closed the door. "Nothing in there sounds good to eat. Should ask Andrew if anything in there belongs to him."

She walked away from the refrigerator, her cat following her, and made her way towards a nearby room Andrew was in. Grace leaned against the wall, knocking on the side of the door.

He turned around and saw her standing there with Iris sitting next to her. "You need something, Grace?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if...there was anything in the refrigerator that is yours. I'm kind of hungry, and I don't want to eat something that belongs to you. I'm not feeling anything frozen, and I'm not craving stuff out of the refrigerator."

"The only thing I can think of that's mine is leftover food from some diner I visited, not Fredbear's. It has been in the refrigerator for almost a week and probably needs to be tossed out."

"Alright, I was just checking." Grace began to turn away from him, but Andrew stopped her before she walked out. "What?"

"I was going to say that I am surprised you're eating more," he told her. "I know you've been in so much stress because of everything going on, but I'm happy to hear you're doing better in terms of eating."

"I don't know about you, but despite me being scared of the animatronics and everything else, I am kind of adapting to this, and while I am a bit stressed, I feel pretty good for dealing with these killer animatronics. How about you? Are you the same way?"

"Sort of, but I am still a bit depressed after what happened to my...father."

Grace immediately thought of her friend and her parents. "I know, Andrew, but please...do not...remind me about my own loved ones; that will make me depressed, too. Thinking about them now, I already feel like shit. That...that Fredbear bastard shouldn't have hurt them! The hell did they do to him?"

Andrew sighed. "We both have to accept our loved ones' deaths. We can't go back and save them; it's already too late. Look, what matters most is that we shouldn't be dreading over them for our entire lives. Everyone accepts the fact they lose someone eventually, and that's what we have to do. I'm still doubting my father's death, but I know he's gone; I'm trying to switch that up, though. Yeah, I'm still frustrated with Nightmare Freddy, like you are angry with Nightmare Fredbear; I know they both already killed our loved ones off, but we'll have to accept it. This is a dangerous time we're living in, Grace, and whatever happens...is all done. We just have to move on sometime; we can't be stressed for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah, but I didn't want them to be killed in such a horrible way. It makes me even more upset that they were murdered in the worst, most painful way possible." Trying not to cry, Grace stood in the doorway in silence for a moment. "Anyways, I am still a bit hungry, so I'll go get something quick to eat. Thanks for that...talk, I guess."

She soon left the room and, on the way out, heard the phone ringing from another room. Grace followed the sound of the phone and ran as she heard the noise grow louder. She found herself back in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs and quickly grabbed the phone, picking it up off the table next to the bed and placing it up to her ear.

"Hello? Who is this?" she asked. 

There was a few seconds of silence until a familiar man's voice answered. "Grace? Grace Thompson? Is this you? I heard that you are living with another guy. Is that true? I wasn't too sure if this was the right number."

"Alexander? How'd you know I moved in with my one friend?"

"Us SWAT officers are working with the local cops back where you live. I heard somewhere from one of the police officers that you were staying at a friend's house, and I would've guessed that you may be living there."

"Well, you are right about that. What did you need anyways?"

"I just wanted to say that we have Nightmare Freddy held in a room right now," Alexander answered. "Since it's not midnight yet, of course he is inactive, but when he does 'wake up,' we already have him tied down. We have a couple other officers keeping an eye on him for now, and when midnight does come, we'll double up on officers to control him. On the way to the facility, he did act crazy like some wild animal, but the other night, he was a lot calmer, since he knew he couldn't really do anything to us."

"So...you all didn't get murdered? I'm glad to hear that."

Alexander laughed. "Yes, we transported him successfully. Even I thought we would be killed on the way there, but here we are at the facility with him. If he did somehow break free, he would still have to deal with multiple officers against him, which he originally wasn't capable of."

"Anything you'll do to him when he does wake up for the night?"

"Not too sure what we would do to him yet, but I will definitely check with the other officers to see if we'll somehow 'torture' him to give us the name of the person who built him and the others. Considering he's an evil animatronic, too, I don't really know what we would do to make him feel...pain. I figured you may be a great source for some ideas, since you know a bit about him."

"Oh, I don't know about that also, Alexander. I haven't really thought about what would be good to make him feel some sort of 'pain.' The only thing I know that may work--but it may only work a little bit--is to make him feel fear from telling him things he won't be happy about. Basically, threaten him when it comes to himself or his friends and them losing to this 'game' they're playing. I remember this kid I'm watching, named Matthew, said to me that he told Nightmare Freddy all of you guys would be after him, and that caused him to feel fear. He also seems to be too self-aware for an animatronic that he does care about working with his friends; I'm surprised an evil animatronic like him has feelings. Maybe try to force him to tell you who built them, otherwise his friends will be destroyed. Look, if that'll work, I know the others will be destroyed anyways, but lie to him and tell him that we'll let his friends live."

"Should we say that we'll let him live, too? Maybe we should mention that we'll release him if he tells us? Of course, we'll keep him locked up."

"That may really get him to tell you, but it depends. Just try it."

"Well, thanks for the idea, Grace. Appreciate talking to you for a bit. Sorry if I wasted your time."

"Wait, before you hang up, I want to ask you something real quick!"

Alexander paused. "Go ahead."

"I don't know if you done this yet, but while he's inactive, why don't you cut off his teeth and claws if possible? Yeah, he may still find other ways to attack--that's if he ever attempts to fight back--but you'll be a bit safer without him being able to bite or claw you. Besides, since he's so used to depending on those to kill people, he may have a harder time adjusting without them if he ever tries to go after you or the other officers. I think it's worth cutting them off just for a bit of safety."

"You know, I haven't thought about that. We will keep that in mind, Grace." He chuckled. "You really are such a help to us, Grace, and I mean it. Ever considering being some kind of officer?"

"My friend is planning on being a cop in the future, but for me, no. I don't even know what I'm going to do after working at Fredbear's Family Diner for a bit. Why?"

"I was wondering, but although you're a citizen, you do make a great partner for us."

"Are you saying I should join the FBI? I don't think I'm as tactical or intelligent as you think I am. I heard FBI agents and officers have special skills."

"Yes, that's what I am saying, since I do think you're logical and a great problem solver--and you're willing to help stop these animatronics going around town--but it is your future; you do whatever you want. In my opinion, I just think you'd be cut out for a job like mine, or if you're not comfortable being an officer like me, you can just be an agent. As crazy as it sounds for a woman to be a tactical officer, as we don't have any right now, I think you are brave and strong enough to be one. Look, if you do apply, I'll be glad to have you use me and my partners as references, and we'll say how helpful you are to us to help us stop this problem going on now. Like I said, though, your future."


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: More graphic details in this chapter.

"I don't know, Alexander," Grace said, feeling hesitant about his suggestion. "I'm not sure if I'm cut out for a huge job like that. What about my friend anyways? He's also a logical and smart guy, but if had to apply for the FBI, he may be more of a SWAT officer than I am. Also, the thought of a female tactical officer to me sounds a bit...extreme."

"How so?" Alexander asked her.

"I just...don't think I'm comfortable with the training and everything. Also, do SWAT teams handle much more serious and dangerous situations? Alexander, I wasn't even on planning on being an officer in the future. I appreciate the offer, though."

"You can just be an agent. I will still have you use me and my partners as references, no matter what FBI job you head into."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I'm interested in law enforcement anyways."

"You have some time to think about it. If it takes you three years, five years, or whatever to consider it and apply for any FBI career, we may be in contact a lot." Alexander sighed. "As a fun fact, one of my partners is a best friend of mine from high school, and we both managed to get in the FBI together. Talk about luck."

"That's cool. Who are you best friends with?"

"Taylor is. Now, of course when we're doing our job, we have to stay professional and can't mess around like what best friends typically do. Outside our job, though, we tend to hang out a lot."

"You two were just interested in federal law enforcement?"

"Both of us, yes. We both applied after college, and we thought that only one of us--or none of us--would get in, but what do you know? We're both SWAT officers now on the same team."

Grace remained silent for a few seconds. "I don't know where you are exactly, but I think you should stay on topic about the animatronics or other things relating to your career. You do want to stay professional, right? Don't want to get caught by others because you're not doing your job."

"Oh, yes, my bad. I'm so sorry, Grace." Alexander nervously laughed. "Is there anything else you want to talk about with the animatronics?"

"As far as I'm aware, nothing major, but I do want to say to be careful. Nightmare Freddy is aggressive, so when he wakes up, be prepared to deal with him. You are going to try the ideas I suggested, right? I mean, you can do this, but he isn't going to be locked up forever with you not doing anything to him. I'm sure you gotta get rid of him after some time, because I don't think you want to have an animatronic acting like a wild animal in the facility for too long. Just saying, he cannot be around people without having the need to hurt them; he'll attempt to attack you, no matter how many times you try to make him stop."

"Of course we won't keep him here for long, but we do have him under control. I know because he's a robot and not an actual animal, it's impossible to calm him down through substances, so we'll have to practically force him to stay relaxed. I'm sure he'll calm down on his own, because the second night we were taking him here, he already knew he couldn't break free from all the ropes we tied around him, so he just gave up and laid there the entire time."

"Hey, if you also need to calm him down, beat him up. I remember rescuing Matthew from Nightmare Freddy and his fellow animatronic friends, and I ended up beating the damn bastard until he was on the ground. He didn't look too dented from my attack, but he appeared as if he wasn't in great shape."

"Was he actually damaged, though?"

"As I said, it didn't look like it, but he was laying on the floor as if he felt the damage. Maybe he was? Don't know. I may know about the Nightmares, but I don't understand every small detail about them."

"Well, we may try that method, too, as one of our ways to 'torture' him. Got any other ideas, Grace?"

Grace smiled as another thought came into her mind. "Yes. When asking him about his creator, threaten to electrocute him. If he refuses to answer, pour a little bit of water--just a bit--on one of his body parts, like an arm or leg. Be sure to tell him something like, 'If you don't answer us, all of this water will be dumped all over you.' Threaten him as much as possible like that; he won't like the idea of being electrocuted, since that will 'kill' him. I believe the Nightmares can't stand water, so maybe consider that method. I'd watch out, though, because I'm not too sure if pouring water in one spot will electrocute the rest of him."

"Noted."

"Oh, and watch out for lies. Nightmare Freddy is a huge liar, so he may tell you it's one person, but that name he gives out may be someone who has no experience with building robots. I can tell you, Alexander, that he may bring up people he hates the most--he may mention me at one point--but don't believe him if he says any of those names. I suggest you watch out for names that sound unfamiliar to you."

"I'll keep that in mind." He paused for a moment, leaving Grace to awkwardly glance around the guest bedroom as he remained silent. "You really are a smart girl. I still think you will be eligible for being in the FBI, or if you're not accepted, at least you would be very close to being applied."

"Stop bringing this up, please, Alexander. I said I would think about it."

"Call me Nicholas, Grace, but only when I'm not on duty."

"Nicholas? Is that your first name or something? Sure thing. I promise I will only call you that if we ever talk again outside your job."

"Good. 'Officer Alexander,' or just 'Alexander,' is my name when I'm on duty."

"I'll remember that." Grace sat down on the guest bed. "Now, take special care of Nightmare Freddy, okay?"

He chuckled at her. "Oh, we definitely will look after and care for him for sure."

"Keep him locked up until this madness here is over with, please. I want to be in town to help these other SWAT officers destroy the other Nightmares, but I'd still like to pay a visit to see Nightmare Freddy to talk with him. After that, you can figure out what to do with him."

"Alright. I will tell the other officers we'll keep him locked up until you arrive. When you do come here, he may most likely be in worse shape than before after our torture methods. We'll have him in a different room with you--though his arms may be tied up, so he doesn't try to attack you--and guard that room in case anything happens."

"Sounds like a plan. Look, I will be fine facing a nearly seven-foot-tall animatronic, even though I am like...five-foot-four; I realized I'll have to be practically bending my head back just to look at him. Ha! Thank you for keeping him for me, though."

Smiling, Grace hung up the phone and placed it back on the table next to the bed, looking back at the window and taking a peek outside. Her smile soon vanished as she walked over to the window and noticed the sun hiding behind some clouds.

Grace crossed her arms as she kept glancing around through the window. The thought of the Nightmares came back to her, then her loved ones, and then her concern for her own safety. Her heart raced from the sudden thoughts, but she strangely felt a lot stronger and easily stopped herself from having another mental breakdown.

She soon heard a loud meow coming from behind her, and she turned around to see Iris laying on the bed, rolling around on it and purring. Grace smiled again at the adorable sight and went over to pet Iris.

"You know, Iris, at a time like this, you are like my emotional support animal," Grace said as she scratched Iris' stomach. "You always do know how to keep me happy when I'm worried about dying here. In fact, all this time, I may have always needed some emotional support animal, just because of me staying up for three days, getting bullied by a Nightmare, breaking up with my boyfriend, losing my one friend and parents, possibly losing a child I'm close to, and everything else. So much going on in almost six nights of dealing with these animatronics."

She stood up and left the bedroom, hearing Iris' feet lightly pound against the floor as she followed Grace into the hallway. Grace looked down at her, laughing, and proceeded to find Andrew.

She eventually found him sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, eating a small bag of popcorn. The TV was turned on, and Andrew kept his eyes on it as a sitcom show was playing.

He noticed Grace standing in the entry to the living room. "What's up, Grace? You want to relax and have some popcorn with me? You did mention you were hungry earlier."

"No, I'm not hungry anymore, but thanks," she replied. "Besides, Andrew, I'm just...going to get out for a bit and walk around. I'm still stressed out, and I'd sleep, but sleep normally doesn't help my emotions. I prefer seeing this peaceful neighborhood to help get my mind off things."

"Ah, okay then. I need to get some rest for tonight anyways. I haven't really been able to sleep properly since yesterday."

"Can I use your phone? I know there's one upstairs, but that's connected through a wire. Plus, I had mine, but I lost it during our life-or-death moment with Nightmare Fredbear."

"Mine is cordless." Andrew handed Grace his phone. "What do you need it for?"

"I'm just going to talk to our group, each one of them individually, while on my walk and figure out what we're going to do for tonight. We do need to act on these Nightmares; we can't let them keep running around for long."

"Honestly, I think we need to take the animatronics out one-by-one as much as possible. Who do you think is the weakest?"

"Probably Nightmare Bonnie, and we can go for him tonight. The strongest animatronic would obviously be Nightmare Fredbear; I'd say let's get him last another night."

"How about we--I know this is going to sound like a stupid horror movie thing--split up with different SWAT teams? One of us goes for Nightmare Bonnie with a plan, while the other goes for Nightmare Chica with another plan. I'm guessing that Nightmare Foxy will be the second-strongest animatronic. Maybe consider that when talking to our group."

"We'll have to get the animatronics separate in that case. Seems like ever since Nightmare Freddy went away, the Nightmares have been sticking together a lot."

"Here's my suggestion on who should be on what team. Are you okay with hearing it?"

"Sure, Andrew."

"I think you, me, and Ryan--if his parents would let him join us--should go after Nightmare Bonnie. Sofia, Elizabeth--if she'll come--and Elijah should take Nightmare Chica. I figured either you or I would be the 'leader' of our small group, while Sofia is the 'leader' of hers. I know what you're thinking; you probably can't trust Sofia being a leader, but she sometimes does think deeply about any ideas she has."

"Like seducing an animatronic is a 'deeply thought out' idea?" Grace anxiously laughed but then stopped. "Shit, I don't need to be reminded of that. I still find it a cringy idea."

"Don't start on that again, Grace."

"I know, I know. I am sorry." She sighed. "Well, your idea sounds great, but who's going to guard Lauren and Matthew? They may be in the same hospital, but I'm sure one of the Nightmares will find out where they are, and they may start to go after them. Seems like when Nightmare Freddy started that mall fire--I think he caused it--he wanted to make sure all of us, not just me, were killed. Enough of this talk. I'm going for a walk. Hope you get enough sleep tonight, Andrew."

* * *

"Grace, what are you doing?" Andrew yelled as Grace rushed through the hospital entrance. "It's literally after midnight! I thought you wanted to get rid of these animatronics!"

"I do, but not right now!" Grace replied, quickly walking up to an elevator. "I have to see if Lauren is okay!"

The lady at the front desk spotted Grace and immediately stopped her before she could press the button. "Ma'am, ma'am! Hold it there! The second floor is off limits!"

Grace stared back at her, confused. "What do you mean? I can't go see my friend? Why can't I go up there at all?"

"There is a murder scene up there," the lady told her. "Loads of cops are up there, even some SWAT officers, and no one else is allowed up there in the meantime."

Grace felt her heart speed up. "Who was it that got killed? Was it a guy? A girl? What's their name?"

"I'm not too sure on every single detail, but I'm positive that--" The lady noticed Grace getting into the elevator. "--Hey! You're not allowed up there at all!"

Andrew crossed his arms as he watched Grace press a button on the inside. "You're making a huge mistake, Grace. That lady said the second floor is off limits, but you're going up there anyways. What the hell has gotten into you? Why are you acting so nervous?"

"I need to see my friend, okay? Please, excuse me while I go up there for just a minute!" Grace stepped back against the wall as the doors closed and the elevator began to lift her up.

After what felt like a minute long ride, Grace stepped outside into the hospital hallway and was shocked to find cops raiding the same room Lauren stayed in. Seeing that neither any officers noticed her, Grace snuck behind a wall and peeked her head around the corner, taking a good glimpse of Lauren's room.

She eventually saw a message written in blood on the wall once one of the cops moved their head out of the way. Grace was able to clearly make out what it said, despite the odd angle she was standing in.

"Are you happy, Grace?" the short message read in nearly broken English. "You take my friend away, I take yours."

Surprised by the message, Grace covered her mouth in fear and silence as she kept watching the officers do their jobs. 

The same cop who was standing in the doorway moved outside of the room and began to walk down the hallway. Grace saw him going the opposite way of where she was hiding and had a better view of what was going on.

She soon gagged as she noticed that something was wrong.

Grace saw that Lauren was hung in a corner of the room by her neck, her body dripping blood from being scratched and ripped open, and some of her insides were visible from the huge gaps torn in her middle body. Lauren also had some blood running down from her neck, and her eyes were open as well, appearing completely red and bloodshot. Some of her hair had been forcefully pulled out of her scalp with clumps of strands lying all over the floor beneath her. The top of her shirt was torn open, which easily showed her bra, with a bloody "F" indented into her skin. Her pants had been torn off, revealing her underwear, and one of her legs appeared to be missing, as Grace noticed that one of them had been cut off.

Grace couldn't handle seeing the scene anymore and rushed back to the elevator, quickly pressing on the button to go to the first floor.

Andrew soon spotted Grace running out of the elevator. She began to burst into tears and coughed violently from gagging. He caught her in his arms as she fell over, collapsing on her knees and screaming as she continued to cry. Andrew then heard Grace's breathing speed up in a short amount of time, and he tried his hardest to calm her down. The situation attracted the attention of a male nurse, who was standing by the front desk near Andrew and Grace.

"Grace, what's wrong?" he asked, still holding her in his arms and letting her cry into his stomach area. "What happened up there?"

Grace didn't answer and continued to bury her face in his shirt.

The nurse moved himself over to Grace, bending down, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ma'am, you alright?"

She never answered his nor Andrew's questions.

"Easy there," Andrew told her. "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened. Please."

Both he and the nurse watched as she uncovered her face, which was now red.

She let go of holding onto him and slowly stood up, her legs terribly shaking. "She's...she's dead, Andrew! Lauren is...she is...dead! Nightmare...Fredbear...got...her! I can't...believe...she's--"

Andrew noticed her falling silent and staring blankly at him. "Grace? Are you okay?"

She continued to have the same blank look on her face.

"Grace? Wait...oh no." He glanced over at the nurse. "I...think she's going to faint."

Without hesitation, Andrew immediately knew what was going to happen and reached his arms out, soon noticing her eyes rolling back and her falling forwards. Catching her in time and in the right position, he carefully laid her on the floor--with the nurse helping him and sitting on his knees to take a look at her--as a couple other nurses rushed over towards them. 

"No! Fuck! Stay with me, Grace, okay?" Andrew looked over at one of the nurses. "Please help her! Do whatever you can!"

"We are going to make her better," one of them replied. "Please be patient while we get her back to good health."

After a close examination, the male nurse in the small group stood up off the ground. "Seems like she suffered a simple fainting spell after her panic attack. Let's worry about getting her wakened up, and we'll see if she's okay for sure."

"Please do. She already has unstable heath, and I hate to see her still suffering!"

"Unstable health? What other problems does she have, if you know?"

"I know she's emotionally unstable, has two injuries from one of these animatronics going around this town, and still has a lack of proper sleep. Just...help her, okay? I hate seeing her having all these problems!"

"We'll do our best. Promise."

"You better. I may have not really known her for long, but it feels like I've been her friend for a while now. I care about her! Fucking help her! Now!"


	50. Chapter 50

"Grace, it's Andrew," a voice rang out. "Are you okay?"

Grace slowly opened her eyes and saw Andrew leaning over her, laying his hand on her forehead. 

"Andrew..." she mumbled in a weak voice, her eyes halfway open.

"That's me. I am here."

"She's coming out of it!" the male nurse announced to the other nurses and few people surrounding Grace. "Let her get herself a break for a moment! Leave her alone!"

As he stood up and walked away from her, Grace sat up, rubbing her eyes. Andrew took his hand off her forehead and soon placed it on her shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asked, looking around the main hospital room. "I can't remember if the animatronics are out yet."

"It's currently 12:15, looks like." Andrew was looking over at a clock, but he focused back onto Grace. "You weren't out that long, thank God."

"I passed out? Why isn't that a surprise? I know panic attacks may lead to fainting, but shit, I never knew I'd experience a spell myself tonight."

"Look, I also know we have the Nightmares to take care of, but you just came out of a fainting spell. This nice man that assisted with helping you regain consciousness--" Andrew pointed at the male nurse. "--he suggests that you shouldn't get up for another five minutes, just to prevent the chance of another spell."

"What are we going to do for the next five minutes then, other than sitting here awkwardly in silence?"

Andrew shrugged his shoulders as he took his one hand off Grace and placed his other hand back down. "I don't know. We could maybe chat about our plan tonight."

"Yeah, about that..." She noticed her legs had been raised up by pillows since she fell unconscious, and she moved them away from her. "Did our group agree to it? I mentioned this plan to them on the phone, but I wasn't too sure if all of them were okay with it."

"All of them agreed to it, and they're all going to meet us back at the stadium--that's going to now be our 'meetup spot' whenever we all get together. But I just want to say that Elizabeth can't make it, although Ryan is definitely coming. Do you maybe know who can replace Elizabeth to balance out our two groups?"

Grace suddenly remembered about Ethan. "There is one guy that was friends with Michael, but ever since that...incident happened to Matthew, Ethan turned against Michael and is on our side now. Can we maybe get him to come?"

"We can, but I don't know his number. Do you happen to know what it is?"

"I am not sure, Andrew. He gave me his number--just if I ever needed to talk to someone about Matthew--after meeting with him and talking to him for a bit, but I don't really have any memory of what his number is."

"I know you probably hate him, but you may need to ask Michael for Ethan's house address if we can't find a way to talk to him over the phone. If you prefer not to ask him, the SWAT officers have all the technology, since they're obviously a part of the government; we could see if a team of them can track down Ethan's address and take us there, so the officers can pick him up and drop us off at our meetup area. At the same time, one of our groups will have a team of officers ready to go after one of the animatronics."

"Speaking about our groups, I forgot who was on what team."

"It's you, me, and Ryan against Nightmare Bonnie with either you or me as the leader. Sofia, Elijah, and this Ethan kid you mentioned will take on Nightmare Chica with Sofia being the leader. The leaders of these groups will come up with some way to attract the Nightmares into some 'trap,' just so the teams of SWAT officers can then manage to set up a way to destroy them. Think about what you did with Nightmare Freddy--how you came up with a plan to get the officers to capture him. We will do the same thing, except we'll be separated from each other. I think we should all start small and work our way up until we all come together to tackle the toughest animatronic, which seems to be Nightmare Fredbear; that reminds me, too--as we do our things, we'll have to stay alert for him. He could sneak up on us without us knowing and suddenly tear us apart. He is a lot more hostile than Nightmare Freddy, seems like."

"That sounds fine. Now, I may have passed out here, but I'll still be capable of working with SWAT officers. I just need to lower my stress to prevent another fainting spell." Grace took one of the pillows she had underneath her legs and began to lay her head on it. "Had a seizure from no sleep, and now, I fainted from a panic attack. I sure do love my body...not really."

"Some people are just more prone to those things than others. Don't feel ashamed, Grace, because you can prevent that stuff. Let's try to get you back to normal health as we deal with the animatronics, okay?"

Grace nodded her head at him as she continued to lay down on the floor.

Andrew sat on the floor next to her, crossing his legs. "You want me to stay here, or should I leave you alone?"

"I don't care," she answered in a tired, groggy voice and began to close her eyes. "But I prefer to be left alone and lay here in peace for a little bit. You can stay near me, but just don't talk to me."

"Alright. I'll leave you be. Let me know when you're ready to get out of here, but I'll have to ask the nurses if it's okay to let you go."

"I fainted, Andrew, from a panic attack--that is it. If I had something more serious that I had to stay here for, I'm sure it would've been obvious."

Andrew never responded and backed away from Grace, sighing as he soon stood a few inches away from her and laid an arm on the front desk.

Two nurses still stayed right next to Grace, watching her in case something else were to happen to her. She looked back and noticed them sitting on the ground next to her, but she turned away and continued to lay down with her back facing towards the nurses.

Grace blinked a few times in silence as she began to get lost in a group of thoughts. She found herself thinking about her parents, Lauren, Amber, and she felt more tears forming in her eyes. Knowing all of them were killed by Nightmare Fredbear, Grace began to think he had more hatred towards her than Nightmare Freddy. She knew that she lost all four of them in a short amount of time--so suddenly, too, that she had a harder time accepting they were gone forever. Even thinking about Matthew and his possibility of dying never helped how she was currently feeling.

Nightmare Freddy's voice eventually replayed in her head, and she heard him insult her over again as Grace started to slowly close her eyes. His deep, robotic, and eerie voice left her having the need to let her tears out. She kept hearing him use profane and hurtful words on her, which led her to cry even more. 

Andrew rushed over to her as he noticed her sitting up, hiding her face in her hands as she let all her tears out. The two nurses tired talking calmly to her, asking her what was wrong and if she needed anything to calm down. 

"Grace, are you okay?" he asked her, kneeling down next to her and setting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you probably don't want me here now, but can you please tell me what is wrong? I hate seeing you suffer like this."

"Just...everything is wrong, Andrew." Grace saw one of the nurses offering her a drink of water, but she pushed the cup away with her hand. "Everything going on...feels like a fucking dream. Is all of this even real? Am I going to wake up?"

"I wish it was all a dream, but this is all real. We're not sleeping one bit, though I wish we were. We will have this problem end soon, and we'll make sure the animatronics will be gone for sure."

"But does everything going on now sound like something that would happen in a dream? I know I named the animatronics because of their hellish, nightmarish appearances, but it still feels as if they really do belong in a dream and not real life." Grace uncovered her face. "Just thinking about my dead loved ones, Nightmare Freddy insulting me to the point where I thought everything he said was true, and...I don't know, Andrew. I feel overwhelmed by all of this. I can't believe some damn animatronics could cause all this madness. I find it funny, too...that I let one animatronic cause some of this mental damage to me--an animatronic, Andrew! A robot!"

"Look, don't make a big deal out of Nightmare Freddy. He has this hatred towards humans, and he obviously told you all of those things to bring you down. I'm sure he may have insulted and bullied some of his other female victims, so you are most likely not the only one. He knows that female adolescents and adult women are stereotypically weaker, so he has always had the chance to be less aggressive with them, just as a way to tease them, while still doing evil things to them at the same time. He's manipulative, Grace, and he took the opportunity to bully you when you were more 'mentally vulnerable.' I know you are a lot more emotional when you skip a proper sleeping schedule, and Nightmare Freddy soon found that out before he started to talk to you."

"Yes, I know. Well, it is true that I never heard him insult men, but I know him bullying children may have been something he'd easily accomplish." She noticed the nurses looking at the both of them in shock from hearing their conversation, and she focused her eyes on them. "Please don't stare at us like that. This is our personal issue, not yours, so I wouldn't say anything judgemental. Please."

One of the nurses shrugged a shoulder at Grace and remained silent.

Grace turned back towards Andrew. "I was going to add to what you said about Nightmare Freddy. I was going to mention that he was purposely programmed to act differently towards girls, but the other animatronics have the same behavior, though some of them are a bit more aggressive than the others. Doesn't matter who the person is; the rest of them just have the need to kill them, but the difference is that once Nightmare Freddy would see a girl, he'd start with all this bullying and teasing shit towards her. Makes me think that whoever was building him before thought it'd be a good idea to have one animatronic that would act less aggressive sometimes and do something else to a person, as it would be another way to fuck them up."

"I still wonder if there's another reason, other than your own reason, on why he would mainly target women...and I don't want to know what that reason may be." Andrew stood up on his feet and crossed his arms. "Well...that's a thought I don't want to get into."

Grace sighed as she slowly got up from the ground, too. "Anyways, I don't know how long it has been, but I think I'm ready to go. I feel a lot better than before I fainted. Before we leave here, though, I want to say that each one of our teams' leaders should have a phone on them in case we need to update each other on something."

"I have my phone. Do you happen to know any of the other team's phone numbers, so we can let them know to bring their own phone?"

"I'm sure they'd already know to bring a phone to see if we're okay, but I can still call one of them. I believe I know Sofia's number."

"Here." Andrew handed over his phone to her. "Call her now."

"Alright." Grace began to dial Sofia's number and impatiently waited for an answer as the phone continued to ring. "Pick up, Sofia!"

"Is she answering?" he asked, which Grace signaled him to stay silent, and Andrew walled away to talk to the nurses who cared for Grace.

She widened her eyes as she heard Sofia pick up. "Sofia, it's Grace. Are you ready for destroying your assigned animatronic?"

"Assigned?" Sofia laughed. "What is this--some secret mission or something? Well, maybe it is some mission, since we are in contact with the FBI, but still...these are just animatronics we're hunting down. But yes, I am prepared to go after that Chica bitch. You got Bonnie?"

"Yes, we do. Just asking, where are you now?"

"I'm at the stadium, like Andrew suggested we would all go to. I have Elijah with me, but where is Elizabeth? She not coming?"

"She can't make it, but there is a guy Michael is friends with that will work with us. Remember Ethan?"

"Wait, is he the one that wears the Freddy mask? He gave me his number earlier! Crap! I never thought about calling him!"

"He gave you his number?"

"Yeah," Sofia replied, laughing again. "Said I was attractive and wanted to get to know me better. He also said that 'if we dated, he'd be willing to prove he would treat me better than Michael if we ever did get together,' which I don't know is just a lie or what. I may be around two or three years older than Ethan, but I've dated younger guys before. I don't go by that 'the girl has to be younger in a relationship' logic."

"You...like him back?"

"He is better-looking than Michael, I can say that. I'm considering getting with him. Now, you probably think of me as being that girl who'd just try to get in bed with a man, like I did so many times in high school, but as I'm realizing my messed up mental health state, I want to try for a real relationship. Call me a liar, but I'm being honest."

"Okay, but if he breaks up with you, don't be vandalizing his car or killing him in his sleep. If that happens, you have much more important stuff to worry about. Look, you can still be that sexually freaky, wild girl you have always been, but you can also show care and affection like a normal romantic relationship."

"I promised myself to withdraw from those psychotic urges. If he does end our relationship, I'll just accept why he broke up with me and move on. Hey, even after years of being called 'crazy', practicing risky sex with guys in high school, and having an unstable relationship with my parents, I scheduled myself today to see a mental health counselor later this week. How great does that sound?" Sofia sighed. "Anyways, I lost track. Back onto the topic of the Nightmares and going after them...uh, was that Lauren chick coming? I know she had her leg problem, but she can still work with us."

Grace felt her heart stop. "Lauren...isn't here anymore, Sofia. I came to this hospital that we visited earlier, and I went to her room, only to find her dead. Nightmare Fredbear supposedly got angry with me setting Nightmare Freddy up to get taken by a SWAT team, so he decided to get revenge on me. I found Lauren hanging from what looked like a rope in the corner of her room. Nightmare Fredbear stripped some clothing off her to easily puncture her skin, and from those punctures, I saw some of her inside parts. There was so much to the scene that it makes me feel sick just describing it now."

"I'm...sorry to hear about that. After we get the two Nightmares destroyed, you wanna chat?"

"No, but thanks for that." Grace tried her best not to cry again. "Well, in our group now, it's just me, Andrew, you, Elijah, Ryan, and Ethan. We're losing people fast, and some of those people were killed off by just one animatronic."

"We had Matthew, too, but that wasn't Nightmare Fredbear he was almost killed by."

"Still, he was hurt by the Fredbear animatronic at the diner." Grace placed a hand on her forehead as she remembered something. "You know what I realized? Ever since Nightmare Freddy went away to the facility, or the 'prison' for him, I haven't seen his cubs at all. Did I ever mention his smaller helpers to you?"

"I don't think so. He had cubs? Is that evil motherfucker a father or something?"

Grace laughed at Sofia's comment. "Sort of. Maybe? He mostly used the cubs as a distraction when Matthew was fending them off at his house, but I haven't seen them lately. They may have stuck with Nightmare Freddy as he was being captured; I think I remember, at one point, seeing a smaller head poke out of his body."

"Sorry, but that's just cute." Sofia giggled. "Anyways, I'm waiting for you at the stadium. Get your team together, come here, and we'll get our own SWAT teams on each one of our sides. Ready for this?"

"I am ready." Grace took a deep breath. "Going after the Nightmares...finally."

"Alright. Let's do this!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just keep in mind that this book takes place in 1983. Technology was way different during the time. If FNAF 4 was more in the present time, the animatronics would have been tracked down and destroyed quicker; that's also why it took a long time for the characters to finally get into action.


	51. Chapter 51

Leading her cat on a harness, Grace walked over to a set of stairs and sat down beside Sofia at the entrance to the stadium. The whole place was shut down and completely empty, as it appeared dark, but the only things that were still on were some street lamps near the entrance. What else made the quiet scene less dead was some police cars and ambulances racing past the stadium with their sirens on, followed by a SWAT vehicle later chasing after them. Grace stared at the vehicles as they sped by, surprised by how fast they were going.

"Looks like we got more victims there," Sofia commented. "Seems like cops and paramedics lately have been always going to help anyone who falls as victims to the animatronics, nothing else."

"What about the human criminals?" Grace asked, soon taking a glance at Iris, who started to lay down on the ground in boredom. "Think they're getting away with their crimes with the Nightmares being the main focus right now?"

"Most likely, yes. Literally, I have been watching the news every day since the news about the animatronics spread, and every time I turned on the news station, there would always be a story about them. Makes me wonder if this is all gaining national new stations' attention. Imagine how other people would react to that."

Grace faced away from Sofia and looked at the empty roads near them. "Yeah, and ever since the rumor about the animatronics was confirmed...there's hardly anyone out here, but obviously, no one wants to be viciously murdered by these crazy, scary-looking animatronics."

"No shit."

Andrew walked around the stadium entrance, talking on the phone with a 911 operator. Grace heard him request for two SWAT teams, if they were available, and she nervously listened to his conversation. After a bit of silence, he thanked the operator and hung up the phone.

"Are there any officers available?" Grace asked him.

"I told the operator what we need two teams for, and she said that she's sending out a couple vehicles right now," he replied and held his phone in one of his hands. "We'll need to tell the officers our plan, so they know what's going on."

Sofia rested her elbow on her knee. "I never knew you could call 911 for a federal law enforcement team."

"Well, it normally doesn't work like that, but at this time, since the other operators can get into contact with the SWAT units, it is possible. Whenever someone calls in to report something, the operators always contact the local cops, but although I'm an operator myself, I can't guarantee that the others really can reach out to the federal officers right away. There is probably a chance they still have to talk to the local police, which after that, those cops will get on the radio with the federal officers, and then those other officers will respond to whatever is going on. Maybe right now, the operator I was speaking to got into contact with some cops in this town, and those guys are currently sending out SWAT teams."

"Is that how it works?"

"Pretty much." Andrew began to look at all of the roads surrounding them. "I'll be on the lookout for those vehicles and grab their attention when they're close. Someone else needs to keep an eye on the animatronics if they are happening to somehow sneak up on us here. Leaders--you both better be thinking of a plan to attract the animatronic you're going after. The rest of you...chill out for now, I guess."

Grace glanced over at Andrew. "Am I leader, or are you going to be?"

"Both of us are great at coming up with ideas, but you had your idea for Nightmare Freddy which happened to work. How about you are leader?"

"Okay. I'm fine with that."

Sofia began to dance a little as she continued to sit down. "About to destroy some crazy, evil motherfuckers! I'm excited!"

Grace anxiously laughed at her. "At least you have more courage than I do. My heart is racing right now just thinking about how dangerous our plan is."

Sofia stopped her little dance. "Personally, I'm prepared for this. I'm a bit scared myself, too, but not a lot. Hey, it's okay to be afraid, but you are also a brave girl, Grace."

"I don't know about that." Grace sighed. "Anyways, we're both leaders. We should get to thinking about what we're going to do."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"I'm thinking that my team will try to lure Nightmare Bonnie the same way Nightmare Freddy was lured; we all just call out for him and hope he comes by himself. If Bonnie does show up by himself, our SWAT team will be hidden away and will prepare to tackle him down. The only difference is that they may set explosives on him to destroy him, instead of capturing him like what the other team did to Nightmare Freddy. My team and I will run away somewhere safer as Nightmare Bonnie will be blown to bits. What about you?"

"I may do something different than your plan, but I haven't given it much thought." Sofia adjusted her arms as she felt them getting achy. "Look, we'll just have to watch out for the Nightmares we're not after tonight--Foxy and Fredbear. We will especially have to be cautious of Fredbear; he's like...the boss, since he's supposedly stronger and more aggressive than Nightmare Freddy."

"Andrew suggested we would go after him last with all of us together, probably using both of our teams of SWAT officers against him; as he said, we'll 'work our way up.'"

"Sounds okay to me. When we do go after Nightmare Fredbear, I can attract him with my voice again. I mean, me singing did save your one friend. Nightmare Fredbear's original counterpart is a singer, and I think even the nightmarish version of him still likes the idea of singing."

"Your singing would've worked on Nightmare Freddy also; his less terrifying version is a singer, too."

"I know."

Grace soon noticed Andrew walking up to her with his phone still in his hand. He bent down and handed it to her.

"What is it?" She slowly took the phone from him. "Who is on the phone?"

"Some dude named Nicholas," Andrew said. "He wants to talk to you."

"Oh...okay." Grace placed the phone's speaker up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Grace, it's Nicholas here. I know you called me by the last name a lot, but I just wanted to talk to you and say that Nightmare Freddy did wake up not too long ago. He's extremely pissed with us, since we tied him up. Seeing him right now, he's really fighting to break free."

"Good. He needs to know that being held against his will is what he deserves. Well, he also deserves being hurt in a way."

"We were kind of late on getting his teeth and claws off, like what you suggested earlier to us. We started around 11:45 PM, and he began to wake up for the night while in the process. I had to help call in two more officers to help hold him down, since he was trying to fight us back. Kept insulting us and telling us how he wished he could 'murder all of us right now,' but we managed to get his teeth and claws drilled off. It took us a while, because after getting his claws off and moving onto his teeth, one of the officers decided to let go of his arms to give him a break--crazy idea. Nightmare Freddy kept trying to grab us, but we all stopped him and held his arms down. After dealing with him, we tied him back up, but other than strangling someone or using other methods to murder them, he won't be able to kill you now. When you visit, we'll only keep his arms tied up to prevent the chance of him attacking, but you won't have to worry about being stabbed or bitten."

"Great! Hey...are you by yourself right now?"

"Yes, I am," Nicholas told her. "I'm the only one keeping watch over him right now. The other officers are in the break room of the facility for a few minutes. Why?"

"This is a strange question, but...can I talk to him? I'm about to go after his friends, with the help of other officers, in a little bit, and I just think it'd be great to tell him that; I would love to hear his reaction. I may want to say other things to him, but that depends."

"You want to talk to Nightmare Freddy?"

"Yeah, if that's okay. Just...hold the phone up to him or something; I'm sure he would be able to hear me."

"Alright. Give me a second."

Grace sat in silence as she heard Nicholas enter another room. She listened as he slowly opened a door to the room he was entering. Grace also heard Nightmare Freddy yelling at Nicholas, and his voice grew louder as the officer walked closer to him.

"He's already insulting me again," Nicholas laughed and began talking to Nightmare Freddy. "Calm the hell down, you monster. There's someone special you may remember who wants to talk to you."

"And who exactly would that be?" Nightmare Freddy asked. 

"I'm sure you would recognize her voice. Just speak into this. Talk now, or don't talk at all."

The animatronic sighed and hesitated for a moment. "Who am I talking to here? I have not used this kind of thing before that you humans call a 'telephone,' but it appears that I am using it now."

Grace took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth. "You remember me, you asshole? It's Grace. Quite nice talking to you again ever since I got you captured."

"Grace!" Nightmare Freddy yelled. "It is you! Why have you gotten me in this mess? I am tied up in this room with nothing to do, and I cannot break free! This is all your fault! I will make sure my friends catch you, because you will pay for what you have done to me!"

"Well, I'd reconsider that thought if I were you. I have a group of people with me that I'm close to and, with the help of federal officers, we're all going after your friends. Yes, you heard me right, Freddy. Your friends will all be destroyed, and you'll be the only Nightmare left. In our group, we each have a plan that will prevent our chances of being killed, though the chances of your friends being destroyed are very likely. What do you have to say about that?"

"I will say that you are a dead girl, Grace! You are dead for sure! I will hope to hear that you do end up dead by one of my friends, especially Fredbear; you will never be able to fight him off!"

"I know that we will be successful. Just you wait until I come visit you, and you will see that I would still be alive after your friends are gone."

"I hope Fredbear got your closest friends. I heard he was going after them after you set me up to be taken by these fucking officers. You honestly deserve having them dead."

"Too bad, because I'm getting revenge on that animatronic who got revenge on me, while my group and I are also basically saving these innocent citizens around town from your friends. This battle will just continue, Freddy, and it won't stop."

"Let it go on then, but you will lose."

Sofia was able to hear Nightmare Freddy through the other phone's speaker. "Hey, Freddy! Grace is right; your friends will be destroyed by these officers for good! There's nothing you can do to save them, as you're far away from us in a facility! You are completely screwed at this point, and I'm happy that you can't come back up here to get us! Those officers really have you held there, huh?"

"Sofia, shut the fuck up! I appreciate you jumping in, but this is a conversation between me and Nightmare Freddy. Please, let us be." Grace pushed her away. "Not that you care, but that was my new friend--some psychotic, bad girl who was as evil as you, but at least she had more empathy for people."

"I am starting to think that crazy 'new friend' of yours was someone you met after Fredbear killed off your two precious best friends, Amber and Lauren. Sad how you seek friendship so desperately. Am I correct about this Sofia girl being a newer friend?"

"She is new, but I have been talking to her before Amber was the first to be killed, so no, I didn't just meet her or anything after they both died." Grace began to smile, but secretly, she felt fear within her. "You gotta stop with the comments, Nightmare Freddy, because if you are trying so hard to hurt me, it's not working anymore. Why even be rude if you won't be making me feel like shit?"

"No, I can tell you are truly hurt on the inside when I say these kinds of things to you. Why tell lies, Grace? Lying is such a bad and immoral thing to do. Have your pathetic, now-dead parents ever taught you better?"

"And killing people isn't a bad and immoral thing?"

"To me and my friends, it most certainly is a fun and amusing thing to do. I enjoy seeing humans suffer when stabbed or bitten by one of us; the sight and sound of people in pain really pleases all of us."

"Okay, but why? Why do you kill people? What are you and your friends trying to gain, other than liking the sound and sight of us suffering in pain, from murdering these citizens who don't even deserve death?"

Nightmare Freddy never found a proper response to her questions, as he sat in silence for a moment. "I cannot answer those, Grace."

"Why can't you? Too much of a pussy to answer? Sucks to be you."

"No, it is not that at all--by the way, do not call me that, you bitch--but those questions are something I just prefer not to answer. Like you humans, I have my own secrets that I do not want to reveal to others. You better not try to get me to tell these secrets to you, because I will never speak of them to you or anyone else."

"Well, you clearly know who built you and your friends. I mean, I did get you captured and brought to that facility, so you can tell the officers who created you. You aren't there for any other reason. Would you tell them who built you, or is that some other secret of yours that you don't want to reveal?"

"I cannot grasp on what you are trying to tell me here. Whatever do you mean by 'whoever built me?'"

"Oh, come on. You should know who built you and the others. Didn't you see him or her when you first 'woke up?'"

He fell silent again. "Nicholas, take this...thing away from me. What is it called again? I do not want to talk to Grace anymore."

"Fine," Nicholas said as he started to walk out of the room. "I'm sorry that he had to talk to you like that, but don't worry; he was rude to me and these other guys, too."

"Well, he's evil and doesn't have one hint of empathy for people, except his friends, who are all evil as well. He's practically a demon, Nicholas. You can tell him multiple times that what he and his friends are doing is wrong, but he will always deny that, no matter what. What do you expect?" Grace sighed. "Anyways, sorry for the long talk I had with him. I just wanted to get some things out to him."

"No, don't apologize. Look, once you come here, you'll still get a chance to talk to him. For now, we will try our best to get him to tell us who built him and the other animatronics, and if he refuses, we'll try our 'torturing' methods on him."

"Sounds fine, but don't go as far as actually trying to 'kill' him, especially if you're going to try the water method. I'd still like for him be active when I come to visit."

"In case pouring water over him does electrocute all of him, we're skipping on that and may just stick with physically beating him up or some other simple things like that."

"Hey, if he keeps refusing, I know that water will work for sure. Maybe try to pour a little bit--not a lot--on his hand or something and see what that does. Nightmare Freddy most likely will be scared of being electrocuted and will actually tell you who his creator is. Again, watch out for lies, since he tends to say a lot of false things. Don't believe him if he mentions my name or any of my friends' names. I'd say to look out for any unfamiliar names."

"I'll make sure that we're cautious with water."

"And trust me, I know that he really knows what I'm talking about when I mentioned whoever built him; he just doesn't want to admit it."

"Yeah, I understand that." Nicholas fell quiet. "Oh, I'm sorry for being silent there; I was keeping an eye on him. He's going crazy in there and still attempting to break free from being tied up. Well, anyways, I just want to say...good luck tonight, and I hope you really get his friends destroyed."

"Thanks, Nicholas. You know, for being a SWAT officer, you also feel like a supportive friend to me. A lot of the cops here can be assholes, like there was one bitchy female cop I ran into while in the hospital, but you're one of the few I can really rely on. I feel like you're also one of those guys who has true integrity. I like that."

"I...didn't expect that kind of compliment. Appreciate the nice comments, Grace."

"You honestly deserve it, not kidding one bit. Aside from my friend who wants to be a cop later on, his father--who was also a police officer himself--and your teammates, I wish there were more nice and trustworthy officers like you. We really need them."


	52. Chapter 52

Grace began to notice two SWAT vehicles speeding down a road towards the stadium, each one of their sirens on. Andrew raised his arm in the air, waving down the vehicles, and as the drivers noticed him, both vehicles stopped beside the sidewalk.

"Well, here they are," he said to the group, turning back towards them. "Since we all took public transportation here, I'd say that each one of our teams needs to get in a van, doesn't matter which one, and the leader should ride with the driver. If there are specific places we're going to, the leaders should tell them where to go."

"Would they let us ride with them?" Grace asked as she stood up, hanging tightly onto the top of Iris' leash. "Funny how when we took a cab here, the driver actually didn't mind me having Iris with me, but I didn't want to leave her alone at home with the animatronics out; they are so malicious that they could try to murder animals, too, if they could. Would the officers not mind having her in their vehicle as well? Also, Andrew, maybe you should be the leader; you act like you really know what you're doing."

He laughed. "You really want me to be?"

"If you aren't bothered by it."

Andrew shrugged his shoulders. "Alright."

"You do know what my plan was, right? We going along with it, or do you have something else?"

"I would think about something less dangerous, but all of our plans we come up with will sound risky either way. Let's try yours first."

"Sounds fine."

Andrew walked up to one of the vehicles, and the driver opened the window, starting to talk to him after shutting off the sirens. He explained the whole plan to the officer and asked if he could get a ride in the passenger seat. The officer soon agreed and opened the door on the passenger side, allowing Andrew in.

Grace watched as Sofia began to do the same thing as Andrew did; she talked about her plan to the officer, except as she did so, she was already sitting in the passenger seat. The driver of the second vehicle appeared to be fascinated by how attractive Sofia was, also commenting on her appearance, but she noticed and politely told him to "cut it out."

"I mean, I'm hit on even more when guys find out how much of a freak I am when in the bedroom," Grace also heard her say to the driver. "But I don't need to be hit on right now by you. Is the thought of a woman who looks like an angel but acts like a devil also attractive to you? Besides, I'm already seeing someone else who already knows my evil side, but they still like me anyways. Just...please do your job."

Grace eventually looked over at Ryan, who was anxiously tapping one of his feet on the ground. "You okay?"

Ryan glanced back at her and then at the ground. "I'm just a bit nervous about how dangerous this task will be. Are you sure your plan won't get us killed?"

"I feel certain that we'll all get out alive tonight," she told him and hugged him at his side. "If we help these officers, since we have knowledge about the Nightmares, all of this craziness will be done. As risky as my plan is, this is the only way we will be able to end all of this."

"But how will we adjust to a new life after these animatronics are gone? I lost my little sister to one of these monsters. I have heard that you lost a lot of your loved ones from one single animatronic. As difficult as it may be for you after you lost your friends and parents, this will also be hard for me to adjust to. I started working at Fredbear's this week as my first ever job, and even considering I'm the youngest employee there, I don't know how I'll be able to live and work as if none of this ever happened."

"Look, like you said, I lost my loved ones, too, and it will be hard for me as well. You can talk to either one of us if you need to get something off your chest, but preferably, the real psychologist of my group of friends is Sofia. She probably gives better advice than me."

"Off topic, but I find it ironic she has a mental disorder and is planning to help people with mental health problems. As I've heard before, though, even psychologists have their own issues. Even if she's crazy, she looks like that kind of woman who gives great life advice."

"But I think Sofia is slowly coming out of her delusions. At first, she thought that nothing was wrong with her, although we were all clearly freaked or weirded out by her, but she recently admitted that she knew something was up. After all of her days of risky sexual practices, unstable relationships, and other crazy life events, she actually scheduled herself to see a counselor later this week. She also wants to restart her overall life and become someone different. Hopefully, we find out what her true disorder is, because she had a diagnosis in her childhood, but I think it's got to be more than just bipolar disorder. She has been showing obvious signs of schizophrenia or some other similar disorder, since she had more than just emotional problems. To me, vandalizing an ex's car with a shard of glass or strangling my own ex-boyfriend over me don't sound like bipolar disorder only; yes, Sofia did really do those things. If that doesn't sound like something more than bipolar disorder, then I don't know what is."

"That's crazy. Maybe she has both disorders? Is there such a thing as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia combined? I don't think there's a certified name for that yet."

"That may be a possibility, but..." Grace picked up Iris off the ground. "...let's just worry about getting these two animatronics destroyed for tonight, okay? The longer we stand here, the more people that are dying. I got distracted, too--my fault--but we do need to get ready. You prepared for this?"

Ryan nervously sighed at her. "Yeah, I am."

Grace easily noticed the anxiety Ryan had on his face. "Look, I promise we'll be alright. Once these two are destroyed, we will just have Nightmare Foxy and Fredbear to deal with."

"I feel like one of us will be mauled by Nightmare Fredbear. Just by hearing about how many of your loved ones you lost from him in not even two days, I have a strong feeling that someone here is going to die from him. Sounds like he is incredibly dangerous."

"He is a lot stronger and is more aggressive than Nightmare Freddy, who I thought was the actual boss at first, but I still feel as if we can 'kill' him. As of now, he's like the final boss in a video game, but there won't be a 'game over.' We can get him, Ryan. Don't fret."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Please, trust me, Ryan." Grace adjusted Iris in her arms, causing the cat to let out a meow. "I am certain we'll all be fine."

"I hope you're right." He began to walk towards the vehicle Andrew got into. "Let's do this then, and like you said, I pray we all get out of this alive tonight."

* * *

"This seems like an okay place," Grace said, looking out the back window of the SWAT vehicle as it drove off the road into the grass. "Isolated. Dark. This makes a great area where a Nightmare may lurk."

One of the officers, who was riding in the back with her and Ryan, reached out his arms. "Hey, I'll stay here in the vehicle. Do you mind if I watch over your cat?"

"Can I trust you? I know you're an authority figure, but Iris here is like family to me, and if she ends up dead, I'll be devastated."

"I was a pet sitter in my teenage years when I was a sophomore in high school," the officer replied. "Ah, the good old days in the early 1950s when things were easy. I was paid decent money during that time for a job like that. Look, Grace, I may be a man in my 40s now, but I'm still strong enough to work this job. It may scare Iris, but I will try to shoot anything that tries to get her."

"Going from a simple, laid back pet sitter...to a pet sitter again who is willing to go crazy and fire a gun to protect an animal--wonderful stuff." Ryan laughed. "In all seriousness, gunshots may scare Iris, Grace, but would you rather have her alive, though very anxious and 'traumatized,' or would you rather have her dead? You did say she was like family to you. Let this guy watch over her. You could trust him, right?"

"I'd rather have Iris alive. I mean, for now, she is the only actual family member I have left."

The officer kept his arms held out. "I'm serious when I say that I have experience with animals. Hand her here, Grace. I promise I'll watch over her."

Without saying anything, Grace slowly gave her to him. Setting her down in his lap, he began to calmly whisper to Iris as she nervously and silently looked up at him, twitching her ears back and forth quickly.

Grace sighed, taking a last look at Iris. "Alright. You guys ready to get Nightmare Bonnie?"

Ryan smiled at her. "I'm still afraid, but yes, I am ready."

"The plan is really simple; you, me, and Andrew all try to attract Nightmare Bonnie over to us, while the officers--except the one watching Iris for me--hide out of sight away from us. When all of us feel we are about to be attacked, we'll call out for the officers. They all will hold Nightmare Bonnie down, set explosives on him, and then run away. We run away as well and get into this vehicle, while the explosives will soon set off as we are driving away. Now, we must go back and check after that to see if Nightmare Bonnie is destroyed for sure."

Andrew heard Grace through the open space behind him, and he turned back to look at her. "There are only some downsides to this plan, though. For one thing, Nightmare Bonnie could sneak up on the officers instead of coming to us. Another thing is that he could come to us, but he would have his friends with him. Hell, he may not even show up at all."

"The first thing you mentioned is something I'm more worried about. If he had to, Nightmare Bonnie could find his way past the armor these officers are wearing and start to attack them. If the second thing happens, our plan will just be adjusted a bit, and we could try to destroy his friends as well. The last one...I hope that doesn't happen."

The SWAT vehicle came to a stop, and Andrew nodded his head at Grace and Ryan. "You two ready?"

She nervously nodded back at him. "I am. Let's...do this."

Both Grace and Ryan stayed sitting and allowed the officers riding with the two--except one of them--got out first, each one of them having sets of grenades or other explosives ready to be used. The three of them quietly opened both back doors and jumped out of the vehicle, sneaking their way behind a large bush. The driver made his way towards the same area. 

Ryan stepped out of the vehicle first and held his hand out to Grace, offering to help her down from the back. She grabbed it and hopped out of the van and onto the ground, the grass making a crunching sound from her landing on it. 

"Looks like Andrew is over there," Ryan whispered, pointing in the direction in front of him. "Come on."

Grace followed him to where Andrew was standing, which was in a similar area as where the officers were, though they were on the opposite side. Andrew signaled Grace and Ryan to come closer after they both walked up to him.

"What?" Grace asked, lowering her voice. "Make it quick, because Nightmare Bonnie, and maybe the others as well, could be around here right now."

"I was going to say that neither one of us should split up, okay?" Andrew whispered. "I'm trying to follow proper rules of how to actually survive a horror movie, because it seems like our situation is part of a plot to one. What we may be doing is stupid, but if it's something to get Nightmare Bonnie to come, we already have the officers over there to help us when we need them. Stay together!"

"Andrew, only stupid horror movie characters split up, but we are not as much of idiots as they are." Grace looked around the area and spotted two pairs of glowing eyes far from them. "Hold on. We got company...with two animatronics. Over there! Well, is this such perfect timing."

Ryan and Andrew glanced over at where she was pointing, and they both noticed the sets of eyes--one pair was purple and another pair was a mix of red and silver.

"Shit! I think the animatronic with the red-silver eye color mixture is Fredbear! We're in some trouble now!" Stressed, Grace placed her hands on her head and walked a few steps away from Andrew and Ryan. "Look, let's just get Nightmare Bonnie and get the hell out of here! Nightmare Fredbear won't hesitate to kill all of us at once!"

"But if we try to get Nightmare Bonnie over here, Fredbear will just follow him," Ryan told them. "Wait, is the SWAT vehicle heavier than the animatronics' weights? I don't think they can lift it or try to break into it with all the strong material it has on it. I think we should just stand here, let them come at us, and we all run into the van at once. Let the officers try to throw all the explosives they can, get into the vehicle like us, and we all get the fuck out of here."

Grace began to cry from being overwhelmed. "I don't know what is a good plan at this point, Ryan! Nightmare Fredbear is the real boss of the group of animatronics...and...I think we're screwed either way!"

"My plan may be safer. Can we try it?"

"Alright. Whatever you say." 

Grace noticed the two animatronics running towards them, and she quickly signaled the officers to start setting their explosives. Through the darkness, they saw her hand signals, and one of them demanded that the others should follow him.

Two of the four officers started to easily tackle Nightmare Bonnie to the ground once they had the chance, but Nightmare Fredbear soon saw the officers putting explosives on his friend. He grabbed one of those officers by the neck, standing him up as he strangled him, though the other two officers eventually saved their teammate by using various tools to get Nightmare Fredbear off him. 

Standing a few feet in front of the two officers, the bear animatronic growled at them in anger as they stood beside their teammates and pointed their weapons at him, threatening to shoot some bullets at him. Grace, Ryan, and Andrew watched the entire scene in fear. 

"Nightmare Bonnie is all ready to be destroyed!" an officer yelled out. "Do something with that damn bear before he tries to kill you two!"

The officer who was strangled began to violently cough, lying on his side on the ground. The other guy quickly grabbed onto him and helped him off the ground, lifting him up and walking him to the van. The strangled officer sat in the passenger seat, while the other--who was the driver--got into the driver's side and demanded that the others should get in, including Grace and her two friends.

The trio all rushed in the back of the SWAT vehicle. The remaining two officers threw some grenades at Nightmare Fredbear, but before they set off, he stared down at the ground and picked one of them up.

"Go! Back into the van!" one of the officers hollered. "Now! This will go off any second!"

They ran back to the SWAT vehicle and jumped into the back as quickly as they could. The golden bear animatronic growled again and threw the grenade back at them, but once it was about to go off, the vehicle was already speeding out of the area. Grace and Ryan huddled together and screamed as they saw a flash of a light pop up near the back of the van. Even Grace's cat was surprised by the noise. 

"Guys, calm down; it's all okay. We're lucky to be alive, not only from the two Nightmares there but also the grenade Nightmare Fredbear threw back at us; both of those were just lucky. Man, is he one intelligent animatronic--knowing what a grenade can do." One of the officers riding in the back looked over at Grace, offering her to take what appeared to be a remote. "You want to set the explosives on Nightmare Bonnie off?"

She quickly grabbed it from him and pressed the button, soon hearing another distant explosion. Grace nervously laughed and handed the remote back to him.

"You guys are really prepared for this stuff!" She looked out the window. "Can we turn around and see if he's destroyed for good? Nightmare Fredbear won't get us in here."

"Just a quick peek." He looked over at the driver. "Hear that? Grace wants us to turn back for a bit."

The driver glanced into the rearview mirror. "Sure. No problem, but because of the impact of the explosions, we may have to stay far away from where they were set off."

He applied the brakes gently on the vehicle and soon turned around on a nearby road, eventually heading back towards the area. Grace impatiently waited as he carefully drove the SWAT van back onto the grass. 

After what felt like a long ride, Grace stood up and peeked over the front seats, noticing a lifeless and torn apart Nightmare Bonnie laying in the grass in front of them with the headlights shining on his broken body. Though the area was covered in smoke, she easily saw that he was gone for sure, and she sat back down, sighing of relief.

"He's gone! That was a bit easy!" Grace began to cry while smiling, giving Ryan and Andrew high fives. "Counting Nightmare Freddy, we got two animatronics gone! Yes!"

"But we still have Nightmare Chica, Foxy, and Fredbear to worry about," Ryan added.

"I know, but...we got two of them already! Let's keep this up, and we'll be successful! I know we will!"

"Risky, but I also think we can get the rest of them," Andrew nervously said. "Now, what about the 'Nightmare Chica team?' I hope they're doing alright."

"I can call them." Grace pulled out her phone and began to dial Sofia's number, placing the speaker up to her ear. "Give me a second."

Taking quick, nervous breaths, she waited as the phone rang a few times, but after the call cut was soon cut off, Grace took the phone off her ear and looked down at it.

"No answer. I may be just a nervous wreck here, but I hope none of them are...dead."


	53. Chapter 53

"About time you finally answered!" Grace exclaimed after trying to call Sofia multiple times. "I was worried that something was wrong! Were you just actually busy or something?"

"We were busy, yes," she replied. "Our team of officers drove us to a busier place, an area where there would be tons of people. I figured if the animatronics don't really care about hiding their identities anymore since the news about them spread, they would like to travel to less isolated areas to kill more people. I would have thought that Nightmare Chica would be out in an open area murdering these citizens, but it turns out that she was in a place where...not a lot of people were at; it was a bit crowded, but it also wasn't super busy, if that makes any sense to you."

"Did you catch her and destroy her?"

"Unfortunately, she got away." Sofia sighed at Grace. "We tried my plan, which was something far different than yours, but it failed. My team then tried to chase her down, but because of how fast she is, we easily lost sight of her."

"Dammit, Sofia! I don't want to get angry with you here, but she now knows that she was falling into some sort of trap! Now, it's going to be harder to find her and catch her! She may not be as smart as Nightmare Fredbear, but she isn't completely dumb either."

"I'm sorry, but some of the plans we come up with won't necessarily be perfect the first time. You do know that these animatronics are a challenge to chase down and destroy, right? We are going to deal with some moments where the Nightmares we go after may run away from our traps. At this point, I know that Nightmare Fredbear is going to be a hassle to catch, since he's way smarter and stronger than the others, but we can still try different plans on him and the others, even if they happen to fail."

"Look, I'm...freaking out right now. My team did get Nightmare Bonnie destroyed, luckily. But...I'm...sorry for yelling, Sofia. I just..."

"I get it; you're tired and overwhelmed, but don't worry, because I am, too, after losing Nightmare Chica. We are currently trying to follow a path on where she may have traveled, but we aren't too sure if she has gone this way. Hey, Grace, I'll call you back to update you soon. Give yourself a break after destroying that bunny animatronic, but also try to stay safe from the others. If I don't call you by six AM, that will mean that we never found her and will try again another night--maybe while your team tries to hunt down Nightmare Foxy."

"Give myself a break? I'm not stopping tonight until Nightmare Chica is gone! Do you need any help at all? My team will be glad to assist yours."

"How about this, Grace? I will call you back if we think we need you. For now, let your team chill out for now, but of course, watch out for the other Nightmares, too. After everything you've been through with your friends and family, I believe you deserve to lay back and relax, and the rest of your team deserves it as well. Didn't everyone in your group lose at least one person? Andrew lost his father to Nightmare Freddy, your one coworker lost his little sister to an unknown animatronic, and you lost your parents, Amber, and Lauren to Nightmare Fredbear. No one on my team has lost anyone. I just think your whole group needs to lay back for a bit."

With a shaky hand, Grace placed her palm on her forehead, also resting her elbow on her knee, as she began to cry over the phone. Andrew saw her break down and stood up from where he was sitting, walking across to the other side of the van. He was allowed some space by the officers and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her.

Grace soon adjusted herself until she was sitting straight up in her seat. She wiped her tears with the same hand and, in silence, gently took Andrew's arm off her. He didn't say anything and looked away from Grace.

"Grace...hey, listen to me," Sofia told her in a calm voice. "I know that a lot is going on now, but you can talk to me after the clock hits six. Obviously, right now isn't the time for a talk about grief, but you can come see me after six AM if you want to. For you and your friends, I am a personal psychologist at no cost."

"I know, Sofia, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable talking about all of this."

"And I'm not forcing you to. It's your choice."

Grace remained silent.

"If you ever do want to talk, just call me, and we can hang out." Sofia fell quiet for a moment, unsure about what else to say. "Anyways, we're still chasing down Nightmare Chica. No sign of her yet, but I have this feeling we're about to catch her."

"I hope your group succeeds with destroying her. Seems as if Nightmare Fredbear is Nightmare Freddy's replacement and is acting like the new leader. Fredbear already knows that we're trying to destroy the others, and he may try to warn them, kind of like something Nightmare Freddy would do when he was still here. You better get Nightmare Chica soon before the other two try to run off for good."

"That's what we're trying to do right now, Grace, and I appreciate your offer to help, but I still think you need to lay back for tonight. If we somehow don't catch Nightmare Chica, your group could always go got Nightmare Foxy as my group tries again with Chica. After that, we come back together and chase down Nightmare Fredbear, and all of this will be over with."

"We still have Nightmare Freddy to deal with."

"Well, of course he's still active, but after you find out who created him and the other animatronics, he'll also be destroyed." Sofia stopped talking again for a few seconds. "I don't know if you want to do this, but maybe try to come up with some ideas with your team of SWAT officers on who you think it may be."

"How the hell am I supposed to know anyone who could've built the animatronics?"

"I'm not sure, but...I'd say to consider some of the people you work with at Fredbear's, or maybe think of anyone who is involved with Fazbear Entertainment. There could be someone in the company who knows how to construct animatronics."

Grace sighed. "There's one person in mind, but I'll get off the phone with you, so I can talk about them."

"Alright. That sounds fine to me."

"Good luck with Nightmare Chica, Sofia."

"We'll try to catch her tonight before six AM, and if not, there's always tomorrow. Goodbye, Grace."

Grace hung up the phone and stared up at the group. "I was talking to Sofia, and she unfortunately didn't get Nightmare Chica right away. Now, though, she wants me to come up with some ideas on who built the Nightmares, and there is one person I consider to be a bit sketchy."

"What do you need ideas for?" Ryan asked her. 

"Nightmare Freddy was a part of this group of animatronics, but I managed to get him captured one night, and he's currently being held at some government facility. Since he can talk, the officers there want to find out who made him and his friends. Sofia suggested we come up with some ideas on who may be that very person, and there may be a higher chance of anyone being involved with Fazbear Entertainment that might have built the animatronics."

"Oh, I remember hearing that animatronic being captured. Well, who is the one person you suspect?"

"This may sound crazy, but...I'm suspecting that Purple Guy may be the animatronics' builder. How do I know he may be it? For one thing, he does have knowledge with building stuff. Also, I know you haven't been at Fredbear's long, but has he been a bit...creepy to you? He doesn't talk that much, and whenever I'm working, I'm usually seeing him standing in place, just staring at me. Besides, he's mostly standing around the diner and looking at the employees all the time. You agree with me, or am I going insane here? He seems a bit...sketchy to me."

"I mean, he has that look of a serial killer, but I never saw him act creepy in any way, not saying you're crazy or anything; I just personally haven't seen him act strange."

"What also gets me is that he wants everyone to call him 'The Purple Guy.' I have been at Fredbear's for a while, and I don't even know his real first name. The fact that he basically wants no one to know his real name makes me think that he's hiding his name for a reason."

"You think so?"

"Yes, and thinking about it now, I believe he may be the actual culprit; the fact that he behaves weirdly, has lots of knowledge in constructing stuff, and covers up his real name all have me suspicious of him. After six AM hits, and when Fredbear's is open, we're going to our boss and telling him we need Purple Guy's real name. I'm sure that he is the only one that knows PG's name."

"Why don't we just raid that bastard now and arrest him?" Andrew suggested and turned towards the officers. "I don't know where he lives, but I'm sure you can find out his location and arrest him to question him."

"We can try that," the driver said and looked over at the officer in the passenger seat. "Ask Grace back there for some tips on where his place may be at to help us find it better."

"Oh, I'm not too sure where he lives exactly, but I know he's not too far from the diner," Grace told them. "I think he's somewhere within less than a mile from Fredbear's. Again, I don't know where he really lives."

"That helps us a bit, but we'll still try to use our technology to track him down," the officer in the passenger seat replied. "So, you don't know his full name? Hunting down for him will be much harder if we do not know his name."

"Well...just use his current name for now and see if that does anything."

The officer then began to use all the technology he had to track down Purple Guy. He messed around with some computers in the SWAT vehicle as the driver started to head in the same direction as where the diner was located. 

Grace waited as the one officer finally found a match on his computer. She anxiously stared at him, waiting for an answer.

He looked back at her and sighed. "Because of technology these days, this may be very accurate, but we did find a neighborhood we suspect he lives in. I'd say we go check that area out and try to find his house."

"Do you want us to check out the different homes, too?" Ryan glanced over at the officer. "I mean, you all can go in groups, but we can--"

"Young man, I'm going to stop you right there," the officer interrupted. "I appreciate the help, but...there are vicious animatronics out right now. Should we leave you unprotected like that outside without us around? You're better off staying in the vehicle until we come back after the search."

"I'm...sorry."

"Look, I'll at least be nice enough to give you this." The officer reached into his belt and pulled out a two-way radio, handing it to Ryan over the seats. "This radio is connected to all of ours. Call us if there somehow happens to be a problem, okay?"

"Got it." Ryan took a close look at the small radio and hovered it near his mouth. "Just testing it. Is it coming on your radio okay?"

The officer heard him speaking through his own radio. "It's working."

"Are you sure we'd be safe in this vehicle...whatever your name is--the guy sitting in the passenger seat?" Grace nervously bounced her left leg up and down and looked out the back window. "I know the animatronics may not be able to really lift it, though they can lift cars, but will they still find another way to get us? I hope they won't."

"The name is Officer Nadeau," he told her. "Yes, you will be safe in this vehicle, just as we look in this one neighborhood our systems are recommending us to search in. The vehicle we're riding in has lots of armor on it, so there is a very low chance the animatronics will actually try to get to you."

"Well, what about that search system of yours? How accurate is it again?"

"Again, as said, the technology here isn't the greatest, but it is working pretty well for what we have now. Looking up 'Purple Guy' in the database, based on local locations here, gave us multiple spots--damn thing is glitching, looks like--but we found an area closest to the diner. As you said, Grace, he does live near it."

"But we are helping you find the animatronics and destroy them for good. Why can't you let us help you find Purple Guy's home?"

Nadeau shook his head. "Safety purposes. If the animatronics try to get us, we are already armed and prepared for when they try to attack us. Like I mentioned to Ryan, if you all go without us by your sides, you'd all be vulnerable to the animatronics. There are already people dying out here every day, and I don't want all three of you dead either. As we are ready to destroy the animatronics, we're already there to get them, but if you three separate from us, then you all would be in trouble. You don't want to be murdered, do you? Then, if I were you, I'd stay hidden away in this van; it's obviously the best option."

* * *

The three nervously watched through the back window of the parked SWAT vehicle, as the officers quietly walked up to a random house in the neighborhood they wanted to search in. One of them knocked on a door, and Grace and the other two heard the same officer yelling at the house owner to open up. 

Grace sat back in the seat, hanging onto Iris' leash, and leaned her head against the wall, looking over at Andrew. He spotted her staring at him, as he continued to sit beside her, and folded his hands in his lap.

"Long night, huh?" He anxiously scratched his head. "Much like the other nights, these six hours feel like an entire day to me."

"Say it like that, then me thinking about how long these six hours feel to you will also make me think it's a whole day. I rather have these hours go by quicker than slower." Grace took her eyes off him.

"This may sound crazy, but do you guys want to play some...game, just to lighten the mood in this terrifying situation we're in?" Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, go ahead and reject, but I'm trying to make this night less stressful."

Both Grace and Andrew took a couple glances at each other in silence, but Grace was more unsure about Ryan's idea.

"I...don't know." She continued to look away from both of the guys. "What would we even play? We don't really have anything to use."

"We have these." Ryan lifted his hands up mid-air. "I know the majority of hand games are childish, as I always played a lot of them with Sarah before she died, but there are some other games than those for kids."

"What about just verbal games?" Andrew asked. "We don't have to do anything with our hands."

"Okay, hold on!" Grace had her voice raised, but she then lowered it. "You guys want a game? I have an idea."

"Let us hear it." Andrew fell quiet, waiting for her idea.

"My idea is something...I don't believe is a real thing, but I was thinking that all of us hold up five fingers. We each take turns asking different people various 'yes or no' questions about things they've done, and you have to answer those, even if the questions will result in an embarrassing or awkward answer. You only put a finger down if you say 'yes' to a question. Whoever puts their last finger down first has to pull a prank call on a random number with Andrew's phone here." Grace pulled out the phone she was borrowing from Andrew. "You may think that's fun, but personally, I don't have the courage to prank random people. Hey, but we'll be having fun and getting to know each other better."

"What if there's a tie?"

"Then both people have to call a random person."

Ryan smiled. "Sounds simple enough to me. How embarrassing are we talking when it comes to the answers?"

"I'm talking about adult stuff, Ryan," Grace answered. "Questions may be a bit sexual if they're asked. Not a lot of people I know are comfortable sharing about their sex life."

"I'm up for it. Bring it on!"

She laughed at him and raised a hand up. "How about I go first? Andrew...you ever...uh...practiced risky sex, or have you actually fucked up from risking it?"

Andrew kept his five fingers up. "I haven't done any of those two things. Risky sex just isn't my thing at all. If a girl disagrees with my choice of being safe, then that's her issue. Out of all my years of having sex, all of those were safe. The only time I'd risk it is if both me and a girl I'm with want a child."

"Smart guy." Ryan nodded his head at him. "Seems like a lot of men are all about risking it."

Andrew smirked at him. "My turn. Ryan, have you...kissed someone of the same sex?"

Ryan frowned and sighed, placing his last finger down. "Many times."

"You have?" Grace stared at him in shock. "Are you for real?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't for dares or anything; I legitimately enjoyed kissing guys, and I still do. I'm single now, but...like I said, I still do it."

"Are you...attracted to guys?"

He hesitated and nodded his head slowly and nervously. "I am, Grace. I just...don't see myself being with girls at all. I believe the only person I ever mentioned this to was our boss, but with school and everything, I never told anyone else. If I was ever asked by my friends at school about getting a girlfriend, I would pretend I'd be interested, but really, they still don't know my attraction towards guys; I'm worried what they will say. Kind of nice, though, that our boss still hired me, even when I confessed it after asking him if he was okay with people like me working there. Of course, I never said anything in the interview I had, but I happened to call him and tell him--probably a bad idea, but it was my first job--and he was supportive of that."

"Ryan, we're like family at Fredbear's. Disabled, homosexual, foreign--our boss always respects his employees and doesn't care what you're like. As long as you're willing to work, that's all that matters to him." Grace put her hand down and walked over to the opposite side, giving him a hug. "It's okay. I'm willing to stand up for you if anyone you confess this secret to brings you down. I'm not going to disrespect you just because of your life."

"I agree with her," Andrew added. "I'm on your side as well. Look, I was friends with a girl who was a lesbian, and she was dealing with a lot of bullies. I am definitely not going to be the opposite way with you. Ignore what homophobes have to say about you."

"Alright, I'm...getting nervous from this. Can we move on with our game?" Ryan began to cry as Grace proceeded to hug him. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Yeah, yeah." She walked away from him and sat down in her seat again. "Your turn, Ryan."

"Grace, have you ever had sex...in a public place?"

She laughed at him. "Almost, but...wait, does that count as putting my finger down? No, I don't think so. Anyways, Michael did try to seduce me into having sex with him in the school bathroom one time during lunch, but I didn't want to risk it. The other four times I slept with guys in my four to five years of dating, those were all in private places."

"Sounds like me when I was in high school," Andrew commented. "At least two couples at my school were caught fucking in the bathrooms throughout the year. I did have a girlfriend in high school, and she wanted to try that, but I never liked the idea, so she dumped me, because I wasn't 'as risky as she was.' Also, she called me 'boring' and all this other stuff. You see why I say I'm careful with women? Some of them--not all--make such a big deal out of the smallest things, but Grace, you are one of the few who understands that. You are also definitely smarter than Brenna; I'm not kidding about that."

"That was the name of your girlfriend?" Grace asked him.

"Yes, it was." 

She blinked a few times. "Okay, we got distracted. Let's get back on track here. Uh, Ryan, have you stole something very expensive before?"

Ryan kept four fingers up. "Never in my entire life. Stealing is just wrong."

Andrew glanced over at Grace. "Have you been unfaithful before?"

She shook her head. "Cheating is a waste of time in my opinion. Not happy with a partner? Leave them. Breaking up with them is what I would personally do, instead of just going off--not telling them at all--and sleeping with another guy."

Ryan silently turned towards Andrew. "Have you had a crush on a teacher before?"

Andrew placed a finger down. "13-year-old me in eighth grade thought this math teacher I had was attractive. She wasn't like the hot teachers you see in movies--with those abnormally large breasts, low cut tops, and short skirts--but for an 'average' teacher, she was good looking. I still regret having that crush on her."

"Okay, my turn! Andrew, have you--"

She was suddenly cut off by the sound of metal scraping on the side of the SWAT vehicle. Grace immediately listened to the strange noise, and not too long later, the sound of growling joined in with the scraping. 

Ryan slowly peeked outside the window and lowered himself to the floor. "Get down! Nightmare Foxy is out there!"

"What?" Grace asked, confused, and still sat in her seat.

He stood up for a moment and forced her down to the floor, which scared Iris and made her jump. "Just...get down and be quiet! You too, Andrew!"

Without hesitation, Andrew laid down on the ground next to Grace and Ryan.

Ryan reached for the two-way radio in his pocket and pressed a button, whispering into it. "Guys, are you there? It's Ryan! I think we have an animatronic outside! We're laying on the ground in the vehicle, so he can't see us!"

The radio was distorted for a moment, but Nadeau soon spoke clearly. "Who is it? Do you happen to know?"

"Nightmare Foxy, I believe. He's...the third strongest animatronic out of the others behind Nightmare Fredbear and Freddy, if I'm correct, so he may be easy to take down."

"I'm sending three of my teammates over there. Hang in there."

Grace felt herself crying, and she covered up her mouth to prevent screaming. Ryan and Andrew appeared terrified themselves as well, as both of them kept nervously looking up at the window.

After what felt like a moment, Nightmare Foxy soon broke the small glass frames of the window, causing the trio to shake in fear. Some of the pieces missed them, but two pieces happened to cut Grace on her arms. She felt more tears streaming down her face from the minor pain, and she tried her hardest not to scream. 

Nightmare Foxy growled softly more and later walked away from the vehicle, scraping his hook against the side. Ryan slowly stood up on his feet and noticed the animatronic was gone. 

"Okay, he's gone...from our sight at least," he whispered. "But we still gotta stay low if he'll be hanging around here."

Grace uncovered her mouth and sat against the floor, looking down at her forearms and seeing a bit of blood running on them. 

"Shit, Grace!" Andrew whispered. "That glass cut you! Here, this may be gross to you, but it's the only thing we have! I can always wash this later!"

He took his hoodie sleeve, hiding his arm underneath it, and pressed it against Grace's small wounds. 

"It is clean, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I washed it today, but don't worry."

She kept taking glances at the window as Andrew continued to press down on her cuts. She realized that it seemed as if the animatronics were getting closer to the group every moment, but Grace wasn't sure if this was just her anxiety talking.

From how aggressive the Nightmares were getting, she did, however, fear that she, or her friends, may not survive the animatronics by the end of the week.


	54. Chapter 54

Nadeau quickly opened the back doors of the SWAT vehicle and immediately jumped in, seeing that the glass windows were broken. "Are you three okay?"

With shaky legs, Grace stood up and nodded her head. "We're just...afraid of what happened. I thought we were going to die."

He eventually noticed her bleeding arms. "Did some glass get you? I'm sorry that animatronic had to do this to you. How bad are your cuts?"

"The glass didn't really cut that deep at all," she replied, sitting down in a seat, and Andrew sat down next to her, continuing to dry up the blood. "Looks like only my first layer of skin was cut, and I mean, I can also tell that I wasn't cut that bad since the pain feels so minor."

"I'm just using my sleeves for now," Andrew told him. "We don't really have anything else to use to wipe away the blood."

"We don't have anything either that would be good," Nadeau said. "If any stores are open, we can buy Grace a basic first aid kit or something real quick as a temporary thing."

"You'd do that?" Grace stared up at him in shock. "But you are all officers sent in by the FBI. I never thought of very strong people like you doing small, caring things, like...paying for a first aid kit that I may need."

"Well, I never have bought something like that for random people I help out, but you do really deserve it. Besides, isn't it our job to help people, even if we help them with the tiniest things? People typically think of us as always being in more dangerous situations, though we are, but sometimes, we also do more simple and harmless things for people."

"That's cool." She sighed. "And you're really going to pay for a kit for me?"

"I am, yes. Your friend must have talked loud, because I heard her say that we should get a break after getting Nightmare Bonnie, but obviously, you need a break the most. Sorry to hear about your loved ones, as what your friend mentioned. Just lay back safely in the SWAT vehicle, let yourself chill out from all of this that has been going on, while I run into the store and get you something."

"Well...thank you for the help there. I never thought of an officer like you doing such a random thing for someone you hardly know, but I understand that you're just trying to help."

"It's called having courtesy, Grace. Even when I'm not working, I still help people if they need it. I believe that people should help others, even if you don't know their name."

She watched as Andrew kept placing his sleeve against her arms. "So, did you happen to find anything when checking out the homes? Did you find Purple Guy's house?"

"I believe we did." Nadeau sat beside Grace. "The other homes seemed to be occupied by people, who I don't think appeared suspicious in any way, but there was one home with the front door wide open. We quickly raided the house, aiming our guns in case anything popped up, but no one was there."

"Did you really? Did you see anything in there?"

He pulled out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket. "I think your guess was a lucky one, Grace. We may have found our guy."

"What is that?"

Nadeau unfolded the paper and handed it to her. "Just look at it. It has sketches of the animatronics, and see the date on it? This was back in 1975."

Grace stared at the drawings in shock. "The sketches even look different than the ones I drew. Are you saying that whichever house this was in...the person living there did plan out what the animatronics would look like?"

"Without a doubt, Grace."

"What about any identification of this guy? Did you happen to find any signs of his real name?"

"I did look through a drawer and saw the name 'William A' in a résumé he submitted for his job at Fredbear's Family Diner."

"William A? Didn't even find what his last name is?"

"I did not, unfortunately, but if it tells you something, I did find a purple cap under the bed. Maybe the guy we're suspecting here is this 'Purple Guy' you speak of."

* * *

Hearing that the time later hit three AM, Grace leaned her head back against the wall of the van in distress. She groaned in exhaustion and eventually rested her head on Andrew's shoulder, closing her eyes slowly. He looked at her smiled, patting one of her legs. 

"Halfway through the night, Grace," he told her. "Sleeping is a risky thing during this time, but considering you have protection, you're fine to rest. I'm sure the officers would agree with me."

"I do, personally," Nadeau said as he placed his loaded weapon on the ground beside his legs. "I heard that the majority of people who are getting killed in this town don't even listen to the news, and they still proceed to sleep at night when the animatronics are active. They don't even have anyone else to stay awake and protect them. Such a bad move."

Grace opened her eyes halfway and spoke in a groggy voice, almost as if she sounded drunk. "You're sitting over there with explosives and a tactical gun. Yeah, you definitely are prepared to defend us if one of us decides to sleep...which seems like I am about to."

"You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you if something happens, okay?" Andrew had his hand still on her leg, but he soon took it off. 

"Will you?"

"Of course I will. If I'm unable to for any reason, I'm sure Ryan or these officers will wake you up."

Grace rubbed one of her eyes. "I don't know. The thought of sleeping sounds great, but...I don't want to be an easy target for the Nightmares. What if you guys can't wake me for some weird reason? What if one of the animatronics kidnap me or something? I'm sure they may have captured some of their victims they kill off. Right?"

"Possibly, but what are the chances of that actually happening to you with us here? What would the animatronics even do to you if they ever kidnap you? More than likely, they'd just kill you off; it's not like they want you for anything else, like some fun 'game' or something. Of course, Matthew had to play some 'game' with the animatronics when Nightmare Freddy was still here, but I think they only kidnapped him once, and that was it. Look, Grace, I'm sure that other random people may have been kidnapped by them if they wanted to continue to play their 'game,' but again, you have people to defend you here. I doubt anything will happen."

"I don't know, Andrew. I'm...a bit afraid of everything going on right now."

"Hey, just relax and get some sleep. I promise we'll watch over you."

Grace sighed. "If you say so. My sleeping schedule still isn't balanced out; I definitely need some rest if that is currently a problem for me. I don't think I should be out for long, but yeah, please wake me if something happens."

"Sounds fine." Andrew looked down at his legs. "You can use my legs as a thing to lay your head on if you want to be more comfortable."

She stared down at them and glanced over at the officers. "Do all of you care if I lay down in your van here?"

"That's no problem," the driver replied, speaking in what sounded like a British accent. "Look, this vehicle isn't even ours, technically; it's been paid by the government. I'd say it is still okay to go ahead and lay down in the back there, though."

"Alright. Thank you so much."

Andrew quickly sat up, getting comfortable for both himself and Grace, and watched as she slowly began to lay down on the seats. She carefully placed her head on his legs and kept making small adjustments to her body as she finally found herself lying down.

Andrew placed his arms at his sides and stared down at her. "Sleep well, Grace."

Not saying anything back to him, Grace soon began to feel herself going to sleep. She saw everything around her fall into complete darkness, and at one point, she no longer felt her consciousness as her sleep began to grow deeper.

At the same time, she noticed an image flowing her mind that showed her waking up in her house. The entire scene happened to be completely empty, with no furniture or people around. Grace stood up off the floor as she glanced around in confusion and never spoke a single word. She went over to her closet and peeked in, seeing that it was empty. 

She walked over to her bedroom window, noticing that it was totally dark outside. The streets of her neighborhood were deserted, and all of the street lights were turned off. Puzzled as to what was going on, Grace tiredly walked out of her bedroom and slowly made her way down the stairs, looking around the whole house as she did so.

She felt herself opening her mouth to scream, but no sound left it, as she spotted her parents standing and staring at her from a corner of the room, their eyes appearing bloodshot and dripping blood down their faces. Janice's and William's bodies were facing towards the wall, but both of their heads were slightly turned to the side, keeping their eyes on Grace. They stood perfectly still as they never moved a single muscle. 

She closed her mouth and never moved herself as she waited for them to do something, although her parents remained in place. The more she continued to stare back at them, the more she became tense from the sight of them.

Grace suddenly noticed everything else around her fall into blackness, though Janice and William stayed in their same spot and position. A short message eventually showed up in blood behind them, saying, "I am here." Grace watched with fear as the message began to banish and drip down into a huge puddle of blood, with Janice and William standing in it. 

Not too long later, an image of Nightmare Fredbear and his glowing eyes appeared. There were red stains on his teeth and body, which all disappeared as he soon faded into a different version of himself. Nightmare Fredbear's body turned black, followed by his hat and bow tie becoming yellow. This new version of him growled, although Grace couldn't hear anything, and after a series of silent growls, Nightmare Fredbear was no longer visible.

After what felt like a very long time, Grace found herself back in the SWAT vehicle. Andrew still allowed her to rest her head on his lap, and she felt him placing a hand on her head.

She sat up and, with exhaustion, glanced around the back of the vehicles. 

"You're awake," Andrew said. "You were out immediately. If you're wondering about the time, it's only been an hour. We have two hours to go until the animatronics are done for the night."

"Did anything happen when I was asleep?" Grace asked.

"There was...one thing we encountered while we were chilling out here," Ryan told her. "We heard Nightmare Foxy, once again, scraping his hook against the side of this vehicle. The only thing we could do was to sit here in silence and hope he would go away, which he did, thankfully. You must be a deep sleeper, Grace, if you slept through that annoying, loud sound of his hook."

"That happened? Maybe you guys should have woken me up."

"We would've, if something did happen, but we're lucky that Nightmare Foxy never tried to actually do anything to us."

"Also, while I was asleep, have we gone anywhere else?"

"We're in the same place, Grace," Nadeau answered. "Left William A's neighborhood a few hours ago, when you were still awake, and drove to this less crowded area. We've been here after we searched his home and found as much information as we could look for."

"Speaking of that--" She turned towards Ryan. "--we need to see our boss in the morning and find out what William's last name is, because I'm sure that our boss is the only one who knows. Huh, I just realized my father had the same first name as this William A guy, but my father is dead and Purple Guy is alive. William, I guess, is just a common first name."

"It is." Ryan stopped talking for a moment. "But yes, we can go see our boss. I don't know about you, but I am not working at all today. There's too much going on with these animatronics, and I'm just afraid of dying here. Let's go to Fredbear's to find out what William's surname is, and then we can get out of there and have the officers hunt him down."

Nadeau looked over at him. "That is our job, young man. If we can discover his full identity, we will be in pursuit of him and track him down. When we do finally catch him, that is...if we successfully do, we will arrest him like any other criminal."

"You need to put him on death row or something!" Grace exclaimed. "These Nightmares all belong to him, and he has already caused hundreds of deaths so far!"

"As of now, Grace, he's still on the loose somewhere. We will have to have all of our teams split up in half; some will have to take care of the animatronics, and some others will have to look for this man. We may also have the local authorities get on the search for William. How do we know he's escaped and is trying to hide? Of course his house was empty when we searched in it, so he's gotta be somewhere."

"The only thing that makes all of this challenging is where exactly William would go to hide," Ryan added. "Criminals can try to be as sneaky and hidden as possible to stay out of trouble. William probably knew that officers would storm his house sometime, and as a way to prevent being caught, that's why he wasn't found there. For all I know, he may still be in town, or he may already be heading out of the state."

"We are all trying our best to work together, Ryan--both us local and federal officers--to take care of this suspected criminal and the animatronics. In case William is ever trying to escape this state, like you said, we are going to get into contact with local and state officers in the other states. They will also be looking for him in case he ever does escape to another US state. He deserves to be hunted down for all the deaths and damage he has caused with the animatronics he supposedly built."

"Nadeau, do you know how many records of deaths that happened over these two to three weeks?" the driver asked. "I heard the mayor of this town has been trying to keep up with all the reported deaths or disappearances. All of these records we should also be keeping track of."

"Of course I do, Officer Murray," Nadeau told him. "I was able to talk to the mayor earlier today before picking up these youngsters to go after Nightmare Bonnie. I interviewed him, and he did come out with a statement saying how concerned he was for all the people of East Providence. He later told me how many citizens he believed fell as victims to the animatronics, and out of the two to three weeks these monsters have been active, he suspects that, even now, over 800 to 900--maybe near 1,000--people have been killed by the animatronics."

"That's much more than what I thought," Grace said. "I thought there were only 500 or 600 victims, but that was my guess."

"That's...quite a lot," Andrew commented. "Is that amount really what the mayor believes? The animatronics must really be kicking in to their killing sprees ever since the word about them spread."

"Andrew, they were slowly getting more aggressive to begin with once we first encountered them," Grace told him. "I don't know if they can sense that there's something about us that is a threat to them, but all of them just slowly started to be more hostile towards all of us in the beginning."

"They probably did have the ability to easily sense if something was off to them. Huh, I don't know if it's only me who thinks this, but it seems like they have far different and superhuman senses than people typically have. If they can be able to tell if there is a threat without actually doing anything, that's just some supernatural stuff if you ask me."

"It's no surprise that they are practically supernatural already," she explained. "They run incredibly fast, they are extremely stealthy, and they have so much strength as well."

"If this William guy did create them, then he must have lots of skill and knowledge." Murray looked back at the group. "Animatronics that truly act like that, even in this time period, appear to be built in a technologically advanced way. I have never, never heard of robots having their own individual senses like we do. Also, it was rumored that one of them acted like he was human. Wasn't it that Nightmare Freddy bastard, if I'm right?"

"Yes, that was him," Grace replied. "Because of his ability to talk, followed by how he talks, makes you wonder if he actually behaves like a real animatronic--which I don't think he does--because he speaks in such an intelligent way. Like his friends, though, he also acts like an animal rather than an animatronic."

The whole group suddenly heard the sound of growling outside the parked SWAT van. Andrew and Grace huddled together in fear, although Ryan was fine by himself, and the officers all glanced at the back door, ready to get into action. Nadeau whispered to the group, telling them to stay calm, and he peeked outside through the small door window, which had been originally broken by Nightmare Foxy.

An animatronic unexpectedly popped up in front of his face, causing him to fall back in the back of the vehicle. Grace and Ryan jumped back as well from the sudden moment, both screaming, and the animatronic stared at the whole group in anger. One of the officers brought the three closer together and sat near them as a way to protect them. He loaded his gun and looked back at them, nodding his head once. Grace, Ryan, and Andrew just kept watching in horror as the other officers began to deal with the animatronic.

"Officer Murray, I think our best option is to drive away!" Nadeau yelled. "Start driving, will you? Nightmare Fredbear is here with us!"

"Shit! Is he? I'm on it!" Murray quickly started up the vehicle and went to press his foot down on the gas pedal.

Without hesitation, Nightmare Fredbear broke open one of the doors with his superhuman speed, causing the three to all scream, and he quickly pulled Nadeau out of the vehicle. The door swung back shut, and the sound of the officer screaming in pain came from the other side, followed by the sound of body parts being torn apart. Surprised and terrified at the same time, Murray pressed on the gas pedal and sped away from the animatronic.

"Fuck!" an officer screamed in distress. "Not Nadeau! No! For the love of God, not him!"

As the vehicle raced away, the last thing the whole group could see was the sight of Nadeau's ripped up and bloody dead body, lying in the middle of the road behind them.


	55. Chapter 55

"Fucking drive, Murray!" one of the officers yelled, staring out the window. "Nightmare Fredbear could be anywhere near us right now!"

"Will you shut up?" Murray replied as he kept speeding miles away from where Nadeau was killed. "I am trying my hardest to get us to a safer area!"

"It would be better if you're not...driving on the opposite side of the road!"

Murray quickly pulled the SWAT vehicle over onto the right lane. "I'm sorry, alright? I forgot for a moment that I was in America! You yelling at me isn't helping either! Let me focus!"

"This probably is a bad time to ask, but you're not from America?" Grace asked him.

"Yes, I was originally from outside this country," he told her. "I was born in the UK, and in my adulthood, I did work as a cop there for a bit, until I later came over here in 1967. Wanted to follow the laws here, so I applied to a school for law enforcement. I got my job later as a local cop, and look at where I am now; I'm working for the actual American government. Didn't know they can accept people that live outside the US."

"Applying for a job as a SWAT officer is like applying to a very expensive and high-end college; the government is very selective, and not everyone that applies is eligible enough to get in," another officer said. "I am glad you got in, Murray. I think the government should appreciate the idea of accepting people from outside this country into federal jobs, as long as they're willing to prove that they want to really work for it."

"It was difficult for me to get in. Not to hate on this country, but it's pretty stupid they had to deny me a few times, just because I'm from another country. Can't I act as a real citizen and try to do some great things for America? Seems like they are picky as hell."

Grace sighed. "That's one of the perks of this country, unfortunately."

Murray exhaled heavily in fear and frustration. "Anyways, you all need to be quiet, please. I need to get ourselves away from this animatronic!"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I'm sorry that I distracted you."

He continued to go over the speed limit as he kept driving away from the one area. Murray looked back in the mirror right as he quickly pressed his foot on the brake pedal, causing the van to jerk as it came to a stop. He glanced back at the group, asking if Nightmare Fredbear was outside.

"You guys see anything? Is he after us?"

Ryan took a peek through the open window. "I don't see him. What about you, since you have windows over by your seat?"

"No sight. I can't assume he's not around here, though; he could be hiding out near us." Murray slammed his hand on the steering wheel and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Bloody hell! Nadeau is dead! What did he do to deserve that?"

Grace heard him. "I'm sorry that Nadeau had to fall as a victim to Nightmare Fredbear. He did nothing at all to die like that, Murray, so do not feel ashamed or angry that your partner has done something bad to have that happen to him. It's all Nightmare Fredbear's fault for killing him; it's not Nadeau's fault."

"It's that...damn William guy's fault, too, for creating such a monster! Nadeau and I were like best friends, and this golden bear animatronic decides to snatch him from the back of our vehicle--just as I'm about to drive away--and murders him! I...I need to talk to the dispatch about what happened! They probably need the location of where he was killed, but I am not going back there, even after the time that those animatronics shut down for the night!"

"If it'll make you feel better, Murray, I can call other officers to that area and go there myself," an officer in the passenger seat told him. "I can let yourself get a break from--"

"Shut the hell up, Officer Kelly! I said that I would do the job, alright?"

Kelly stared at him in shock. "Okay, fine then! Wow."

"Kelly, leave him be." Another officer jumped into the conversation. "We obviously lost a fellow partner, and while I am depressed about it myself, I think you shouldn't be bugging Murray right now."

"Don't you think I am, too? I just offered him a break, Bailey; you don't need to be mad at me for helping a partner out."

"I'm not mad about that; I just--"

"Then why are you making such a big deal with me offering to help Murray? You're telling me to leave him alone, but you're also not unhappy about me helping someone out? That doesn't make sense!"

"Now is not the time to be bothering him about this stuff! Don't you understand that, Kelly? You may help him out, but just not now."

"Stop! You two need to shut the fuck up!" Murray slammed his hand on the steering wheel again. "I am upset about losing Nadeau right now! Kelly, you may help me if you want, but like what Bailey said, I don't need help right now!"

"I'm just...trying to give you a break," Kelly mumbled. "That's all I'm asking for--nothing else."

"I don't need a break, okay? I appreciate it, but you need to understand that now is not the right time! You got that?"

"Guys, be quiet!" Grace leaned her arm against the back of the driver and passenger seats. "Do you all not want to die like Nadeau did? I suggest we all lower our voices, alright? Otherwise, we'll be greeted by a Nightmare. I mean, do you want to attract their attention? Do you want to be pulled out of the vehicle like Nadeau and be ripped to bits by an animatronic? Is the sound of you dying a very painful and terrifying death okay to you?"

Kelly, Murray, and Bailey all ignored each other without saying anything else.

"That's what I thought." Grace sighed as she took her arm off the back of the seats and grabbed the phone out of her pocket. "I'm going to check up on Sofia and see how her group is doing. I'm also going to try to talk as quiet as possible, just so we don't easily grab an animatronic's attention."

She placed the phone up to ear after dialing Sofia's number and waited for an answer. Grace crossed one leg over her other as she continued to listen to the phone ring.

After what felt like a while, an exhausted voice from the other end picked up and began to talk to Grace. She noticed that Sofia sounded like she was depressed, but she didn't want to ask too many questions.

"Sofia, it's Grace," she said. "I just wanted to see how everything is going with your group."

"Yeah, everything is fine," Sofia replied. "I'm just...so tired from hunting down Nightmare Chica. I try my best to come up with plans to catch her, but she keeps escaping!"

"You shouldn't give up now. Look, you have about a couple hours to try again, and if she keeps getting away, we have these other nights."

"I know, but I want these animatronics to be gone as soon as possible."

"So do I." Grace paused for a moment. "Do you need any help?"

Sofia hesitated as well. "It...could help us. We...we only have two officers left with us."

"Didn't you have five originally, like my team?"

"Yes, but...hold on. Did you lose some officers, too?"

"Only one. You lost three, I'm guessing?"

"We lost three to two animatronics--two were killed by Nightmare Chica, and one was killed by Nightmare Foxy. We gave up at that point, since both animatronics were ganging up on us. We did try to stop them, but the two officers didn't want to get killed like their partners did. Nightmare Fredbear got one of the officers in your group, right?"

"Yes, you're...completely right. Want me to let the officers in my group know about what's going on?"

"It would help us a lot."

"Okay, give me a second." Grace set her hand over the phone's speaker and looked up at the four officers. "My friend's group needs some help; they lost three officers when trying to chase down Nightmare Chica."

"They need help, huh?" Kelly glanced back at her. "Where is she right now?"

"Let me ask." She put the phone back up to her ear. "Do you know where you are, Sofia? If not, just ask the two remaining officers, and they can give the location you're at through their radio to my group of officers."

"I think we're...near the stadium we usually meet at, but we are a bit far from it. I'd say...we're roughly a few blocks from it."

"Right now?"

"Yes, right now. We could really use the help at the moment. We think Nightmare Chica is somewhere around this area, but we're not too sure where exactly."

"Alright." Grace set the phone down from her ear again. "They're a few blocks from the stadium. She didn't tell me where they are exactly, but she's in that area."

"That helps us a bit," Kelly said and turned towards Murray. "You want me to drive?"

The officer in the driver's seat sighed. "I can do it myself. Please, let me do my own things. Also, I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that, but I did just lose a friend; you would expect me to be a bit irritable from that."

"Look, I won't bother you anymore, if that'll make you feel better."

"I prefer to not talk for a bit. I'm still going to get the officers from Grace's friend's team on the radio to find out where their exact location is. Other than that, I'm not going to bother speaking that much, just because of how I'm feeling right now."

"I understand."

Bailey looked over at the other officer sitting next to him. "Officer Fraser...are you ready?"

The one officer stared up at Bailey and nodded his head. "Yes. Afraid of dying, but I am prepared."

"Hey, I'm scared of dying, too, but we've been finding ourselves in some dangerous situations before; we are trained to take care of more hostile problems after all." Bailey checked to see if he had all his necessary weapons. "But look, Fraser, we are here to help these people stay safe from these animatronics. Since the local authorities couldn't handle taking them down, even without being fully prepared with certain weapons, they had to rely on us to take care of them. We normally don't deal with animatronics, but like Grace mentioned, these guys act like actual animals. I think the cops in this town had a reason to call us here."

"Didn't the state's own SWAT teams get called down to get into action?"

"I think I heard that they were called, but more officers were killed, unfortunately. If the animatronics really are this much of a hassle, it was good that even the state's SWAT team wanted us to help. I hate to brag, but we do have more advanced weaponry and equipment. Our teams should be strong enough to destroy these animatronics without us getting--well...we did lose an officer--but at least we are more tactical and prepared for this kind of stuff."

Grace set the phone in her lap as she listened to the last of their conversation. "You said that more officers were killed, Bailey? I never heard about that."

"Yes, more officers were killed, and these were the state's SWAT teams," he replied. "Of course more local cops were murdered, too, but with the state SWAT teams finding out that their officers were getting killed off a couple days or so ago, they had to immediately get us involved."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. You may have not known this, because lots of the things we're telling to the mayor and other local people working in the political field in this town are all private. I'd only say the basic stuff, though, and one thing I can talk to you about is what I was just saying, which was the fact that even officers working in higher fields above the local and state police are in trouble as well. We are not the absolute highest, as we don't go as far as dealing with stuff involving international issues, but we do take care of risky situations that cause havoc to many, many people. It may seem ridiculous for us--federal officers from the FBI--to go after a few animatronics, but I have been hearing that SWAT teams from the state are struggling as much as local and state police, so they decided to have us help."

"You guys seem to be very tough, too. Another SWAT team I was with actually captured Nightmare Freddy--the second strongest animatronic out of all of them, it seems like. I thought that they would've died, but they actually got him. Do you know Officer Alexander, Taylor, Sinclair, and whatever the other two names are? Sorry, I forgot their names, but they were on a team together."

"I know Alexander very well. Quite a smart and friendly guy. Did he really take down an animatronic without actually doing much damage to Freddy? While we are strong, I doubt I'd be able to be a part of capturing an animatronic."

"Well, all five of them had to do it at the same time, but yes, he was involved with capturing that one animatronic. He is at some facility where Nightmare Freddy is being held, but I don't know where it is. I'm sure you prefer to keep that a secret, though."

"Because it is government property, we do need to keep the location a secret." Bailey sighed. "I heard Nightmare Freddy was captured, but I wasn't sure where they would take him, as I wasn't told, but now I know. It's good they brought him there, since that's where we take some things that are causing problems in situations we respond to. I can say that what we do there varies on whatever we bring to that facility. Did Alexander ever say to you what they would do to Nightmare Freddy?"

"They said that they would basically 'torture' him until he finally gives the answer to whoever built him and the other animatronics."

"And since we suspect who may be their creator...give me your phone, please."

"Uh, why?"

"I want to see if I can talk to Alexander and Nightmare Freddy, since it's not six AM yet and he's still active. I want to tell Alexander about our suspected guy, and I also want to ask Freddy if the name sounds familiar to him."

"Alright, but when you speak to Nightmare Freddy, prepare to get insulted and cursed at. Like his friends, he does not like people one bit."

"Who cares? I'm not going to listen to a damn robot."

Grace only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"What is the facility's phone number?"

"Um, here. Hand the phone to me. I can dial it for you."

In silence, Bailey held the phone out to Grace, and she took it from him, eventually pressing a few buttons. The officer waited for a few seconds as she soon finished up entering different numbers in, and she handed the phone back to him.

Grace watched as he began to speak to Alexander, asking if he was available to talk. Bailey laughed as he said to him, "Awesome!" Grace sat in silence with a straight face as both officers started to talk more to each other.

"This is kind of a ridiculous question, but can I ask Nightmare Freddy something?" Bailey eventually asked. "Is he willing to talk to me? I'm with Grace, a couple of her friends, and some of my partners. We all think we may have found who built him and the other Nightmares."

She began to look down at the ground, and Andrew noticed how depressed she appeared. He took one of his arms and wrapped it around her upper body.

Grace didn't say anything as she stared up at him.

"Just being friendly," Andrew said. "That's all. If you want me to take my arm off you, I'll be glad to. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

She blinked a few times at him before focusing her eyes back on the ground again, mumbling some words under her breath.

"I'm sorry?"

Grace raised her head back up. "I said that I don't care, Andrew."

Bailey moved the phone away from his ear in surprise. "Wow. Okay then."

"What?" she asked him. "Is something wrong?"

"Nightmare Freddy is just insulting me constantly," he laughed as he placed the phone back up to his ear. "I don't care what you say to me, I...can you fucking stop interrupting me, you bastard? I need to...stop! Listen to me! I'm the officer here, and I need you to...I said to stop talking over me...I don't care what you...I'm not the worthless one; you are, you piece of...does it look like I care?"

Grace nervously laughed. "I warned you, Bailey. That's how he is; he wants to make sure everything is his way, even what he has to say to you. He also thinks insulting you nonstop will make him feel better about himself."

"Nightmare Freddy, you better not interrupt me again! Now, I have to ask you something. Does the name...oh my fucking God! I said to stop interrupting me!"

"Let him speak, you asshole!" Grace yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Actually listen to people for once!"

"Freddy, I don't know the last name of this person, but does the first name 'William' sound familiar to you? We found some sketches of you and your friends dating back to the 1970s in this guy's home. Considering these were drawn before you were built, we suspect that this guy built all of you. Does he sound like your builder? Again, we don't know his last name, but we know the initial, which is 'A.' Now, I know you're a liar, so you better be honest with me this time."

He impatiently waited for an answer, and Grace noticed the long pause between the two.

"Is he even answering you?" she asked.

"Seems like he's hesitating," Bailey replied as he covered the phone's speaker. "This is making me feel more convinced that this guy I mentioned to him may be the one we're after. Just from experience, I have seen people who hesitate to answer a question are thinking about a story to make up and end up lying straight to my face."

Grace shrugged her shoulders, not saying a word.

He set the phone back up to his ear. "I already know you're hiding something; that silence isn't fooling me. Tell me if that name sounds familiar to you, or we'll make the officers, that are there with you, force you to tell!"

As if she was talking to Nightmare Freddy on the phone, Grace waited for him to answer Bailey.

"So, that name sounds unfamiliar to you? I'm not buying that lie. From experience, Freddy, people who hesitate to answer any of my questions end up being a liar. You better tell me the truth; otherwise, we're going to be here all night, and I'm sure you don't want me constantly bothering you about the same topic."

Silence hit the vehicle again. 

"I'm going to ask this again: does the name sound familiar to you?" 

More silence.

"Did you really just say what I thought you said?" Bailey began to grow impatient with Nightmare Freddy, groaning at him. "You better take that shit back!"

"What?" Grace leaned forward. "What did he say?"

He ignored her and raised his voice, slamming his fist on the seat. "Just...answer...the...question! Does that goddamn name sound familiar to you? Be honest, and don't lie to me!"

Andrew glanced down at Grace. "Look, Nightmare Freddy is just being his typical self. You know he tends to test people sometimes."

Grace sighed and reached her hand out towards Bailey. "Getting angry at him will encourage him to act the same way he's acting towards you; that is how he expects you to respond. Give me that. I'll sweet-talk him and annoy the hell out of him to get him to tell."

Bailey noticed her arm right away and silently handed over the phone to her. She quickly snatched the phone from him and began talking into it.

"Nightmare Freddy, it's Grace," she said in the sweetest voice she could make. "I see you and that officer are getting into...quite a fight there."

"You again?" Nightmare Freddy laughed evilly at her. "I find it funny how he is getting impatient with me. You humans seem to react so easily and negatively to certain things; it is hilarious to me."

"Well, I mean, you're not lying. Some people can't handle having patience."

"I am guessing you do not have much patience yourself?"

"How would you know if I have patience or none at all? Sorry, sweetie, but you can't actually tell that for yourself. I hate to be truthful with you, but you know that you can't tell every bit of detail about someone; you aren't that special."

"I may not be so 'special' in that way, according to you, but I still am in another way, and I am definitely much better than you are. Face it, Grace--like any other person, you are just a weak human being who does not deserve to breathe at all. I may not be there to get in on the fun action, but I sure hope my friends put you in your pathetic little place and finish off your life, followed by the rest of your fellow loved ones. I will make sure you join your two best friends, and what I mean by that is...well, you sure do know what I mean."

Grace held her breath as she listened to his rude comments, and she quickly thought of a comeback to say to him, while still acting sweet and nice. "Oh, that's not such a big deal, Freddy; I am not scared one bit. I know I used to be, but I've overcome my fear of you and you friends. Don't you go too crazy about how strong you think you are, okay? Now, before you go off on me again, may you please answer the question that officer was asking you?"

"And why must I answer?"

"Please answer it, Freddy." She began to notice the sweetness in her voice was becoming over-the-top, and she lowered it to a more realistic tone. "Would you be a good guy for once in your life? You want to think of yourself as someone great, right? Do that."

"I am sorry. It seems as if I forgot what the question was. Do I have the time to care what you expect me to do anyways?"

Grace laughed at him. "You are a great joker, you know that? Now, just answer it."

"Answer what?"

"Stop playing games with me, Nightmare Freddy. You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I do not."

"Alright, you know what?" Grace gave up on her method of testing him. "I know you're just messing with me; that's what you do--you manipulate people in every way possible, like how you saying all this rude stuff to me before really made my self-esteem go down. During that time, you really made me think that I was worthless, and while it did work, it is not working now. Look, you better answer the question, or the officers there with you will make you tell it! Do you know what they will do? They'll make sure you suffer your own pain! You may not physically feel pain, but they--even myself--know what hurts you, and they'll inflict that stuff on you. What's one thing? Oh, electrocuting you is definitely one thing. I know you and your friends aren't waterproof. You don't want to be 'dead' yourself, right? You better say, or you'll risk yourself of 'dying.'"

"We are waterproof. Go ahead and let them test it on me. It would not hurt me one bit."

"Alright, that's your call." Grace heard Alexander soon talking into the phone. "Pour water on him. See if that will convince him to answer the question."

"Taylor is doing that right now," he said. "He's got a cup of water...and now, he's about to pour it on Nightmare Freddy...there we go. Oh, his arm is shaking severely."

She heard the animatronic curse loudly in the background, and it sounded as if he did feel pain. "It worked? That's great to hear."

"You all deserve to die!" Nightmare Freddy yelled as Alexander stood in silence. "My friends...will be after you! You will...all regret what you...are doing!"

"Oh, shut up, you bastard!" Taylor laughed at him. "We're not regretting what we're doing to you!"

"Now, my arm is not working properly! Look what you have done to me! You better stop now, or you will all be dead!"

"Does it look like I care?" The officer chuckled once again as it seemed like he poured more water on Nightmare Freddy, causing him to scream out more insults. "Tell us if the name 'William A' sounds familiar to you! Keep avoiding the question, and this water will end up 'killing' your whole self!"

"Alright then! Just...stop it...please! You are going to permanently shut me down with that stuff!"

Alexander sighed of relief. "Seems like he's about to answer it...finally."

"Hold on, hold on!" Grace exclaimed. "Let me hear on this!"

Silence hit the room for a moment, and Grace heard Nightmare Freddy sigh loudly into the phone. She automatically knew that Alexander took the phone away from himself to let her listen.

The animatronic hesitated for a few seconds. "Yes, I...I know the name."

"Can you tell us his name, please, and where he is?" Taylor asked him.

Nightmare Freddy remained silent again. "My creator...is a man dressed in purple, and his...his...his name is...William Afton. He lives...back in the same town...where my friends are at right now, although I am not sure where he exactly lives. Alright, I said it all! Are you worthless humans fucking happy now? Does all of that make you feel better about your damn selves?"

"Afton? But Michael's and Matthew's last name is...Afton. Wait..." Grace widened her eyes as she stared at the officers. "Guys, the person we're after is the father of a guy I dated and a little boy I would 'babysit' a lot. Nightmare Freddy admitted who it is, and his full name is William Afton. He is the guy that would dress up in purple, like I mentioned, but I never thought he'd be the father of my ex and Matthew. 

"It also doesn't make sense, though, because why was there another house he supposedly 'lived' in, unless...he rented a different home as a private place to build the animatronics; that's why he wasn't home all the time for Michael and Matthew--as I've seen before--though William may have been visiting his sons on occasion as a way to get a break from creating the animatronics. Still unsure where their mother is, but other than that, this all makes sense now."


	56. Chapter 56

Grace quickly began to dial a number, after hunting down for it for several minutes, and placed the phone up to her ear. Growing impatient, she nervously tapped her foot on the ground.

A familiar man's voice eventually picked up, and to Grace, he seemed exhausted and stressed out. She wasn't too happy to hear him, but she had to tell him the news.

"Well...it's good to talk to you again, Michael...not really," she said and rolled her eyes. "Call me a liar all you want, but I have to talk to you about your father, and what I'm going to say may sound ridiculous, but it's all true."

"What is it?" Michael asked. "Make it quick, because I'm awaiting a trial in a week at the courthouse, and talking to you now in the prison, I only have a certain time limit."

"Oh, yeah, I heard you were arrested. Good for you." Grace sighed. "Anyways, we--counting these federal officers I'm teaming up with--speculated before that your own father was the creator of these animatronics that are going on a murder spree around town, and we were right. The cops I'm with right now raided a spare home, that seemed like something your father rented, and found all this evidence of what appear to be sketches and this other stuff of the animatronics dating back to the 70s. He also likes to dress in purple, and what did the cops happen to find in there? There was a purple cap under the bed and his résumé for Fredbear's with his own name on it. Yeah, your father built these monsters, Michael; that may explain why he wasn't home all the time to see you, so he was creating these animatronics in secret."

"You're kidding. My...own father built these robotic demons to cause terror to people around town? Yeah, he did say to me that he worked a 'second job,' but...I never thought it was that. Are you sure you're not trying to mess with me?"

"As frustrated as I am with you after all you've done to me, I'm trying to be as truthful as I can." She shook her head. "I'm being honest here, Michael; your father really took the time and effort to make these killer animatronics. With the evidence we collected, too, there's no way we can say that William didn't create the Nightmares."

"My...father made them, but...how? Did he really keep this a secret from me, the little man, and our mother? The bastard!"

"I hate to say this to you, but it seems as if he did. Like I said about him renting out a home, he probably wanted to keep his creation of the animatronics a secret, so your family couldn't find out at all."

"I never thought of him as having the skills to create these animatronics, even our mother knew that he told her he never had experience with building things, unless that was a lie."

"Look, whatever the case is, Michael, we're highly convinced that your father did build them. Like I mentioned, we have all this evidence that it was definitely him."

Michael paused for a moment. "I...I just can't believe what I'm hearing. My father...has been...lying to us all this time, just because he was working on these animatronics!"

"I'm sorry, Michael."

"I mean, I know what I...supposedly did to Matthew was heartless, but...I...I never thought my father would be evil as well...to the point he created the animatronics to murder all these people that don't deserve it!"

Grace tried to hold in tears after hearing about Matthew. "Yes, William really made these monsters, and when we were still dating, one of them happened to put me in the hospital. Something is up with your family, Michael, because it seems like murder runs in it. Have your ancestors been killers as well? I wouldn't be surprised if they were."

"I'm...not sure, but are you positive that my father is their true creator? It just seems off to me that he'd really do that. Not only is he a liar, but he is more immoral than I thought. I know that you think I'm immoral, too--don't need to point it out--but still, that just doesn't seem like something he'd do."

"I'm certainly positive that he's at fault. Even one of his animatronics, who can actually talk, confirmed that it was William. You probably don't know him that well, since you've probably never seen him, but I managed to get some officers to capture the nightmarish version of Freddy. I was just talking to him after calling one of the officers at some facility, where they're holding him, and he said for himself that the name 'William Afton' sounded very familiar to him. And yes, he confirmed that William built him and his friends."

"Freddy really said that to you? He actually confirmed that my father built him and the other current animatronics? I...just can't believe this."

"Yes, he said for himself that your father built them." She blinked a few times as she noticed something. "Hate to switch the subject here, but the prison is allowing you to call me at such an early time? I thought all prisoners would be sleeping right now."

"They heard that you wanted to call me, and while the other prisoners are asleep now, they allowed me to talk to you for a bit. I have some cops guarding me right now." Michael fell silent and groaned. "I don't care about anything else you may tell me; I'm still in shock about my father."

"Both of you are at fault for something, you know that."

"Yeah, but my father is in more trouble than I am. He caused hundreds and hundreds of deaths! I think he's caused more trouble than I...probably have started! Look at it this way, too; I had local cops after me, but my own father has the damn FBI on his back! The FBI, Grace! Don't you know how big of a deal that is?"

"I know how big of a deal it is. As I've said, I'm working with some of the officers that were sent out by them, and we're not only trying to destroy the animatronics, but we're also hunting down your father."

"Do it then. As much as I deserve my time for something I...supposedly did, he deserves his time, too, by...maybe being on death row!"

Grace hesitated. "Anyways, it was...not nice talking to you again. You know I'm still angry at you for everything you have done to not only me but your little brother. I need to go, because it's not six AM yet, and I don't want to be killed by an animatronic."

"Be mad all you want at me, but I wish you luck tonight. I want to be there to help, but I can't, since I'm held in prison right now."

"Don't, Michael. Don't wish me luck; I don't need to hear that kind of nice stuff from you after what you've done to me and Matthew. You know, I'm someone who gives my partner one chance in a relationship, whether it is cheating or treating me like I'm nothing. Just saying, I know you've been wanting me back lately, but you completely blew it; my one chance for you is up, and I don't want to think about you and I together again. I know it sounds strict, which I can be a strict girl, but I am not worried about the little things." She sighed at him in anger. "Anyways, I know I went off topic, but I'm done and hanging up now. Enjoy your stay in jail, where you deserve to be."

Grace quickly ended the call before Michael had the chance to say anything.

Andrew glanced over at her, seeing her almost burst into tears. "I know how much of a jerk he was. You are right about not giving him another chance over the big stuff; I think that's the right thing to do."

"Yeah, if any of my partners cheat or just treat me terribly, it's immediately over," she told him. "Like I also mentioned, it sounds like I'm being strict, but I'm not trying to overdo it when I have my rules in a relationship. When dating someone, I'm not going as far as always making sure they're cheating by stalking them or anything; now, back when she was still out of her mind, that's something Sofia would definitely do."

"This is just me, but I think Sofia is still a bit crazy. She may be wanting to improve on her mental state, but I believe there are some things that make her appear like she's still out of her mind. Maybe she'll get better soon, though."

"Well, you just gotta give her time. Mental health doesn't obviously improve overnight."

"I know."

She set the phone down in her lap and kept staring at Andrew. "Anyways, it's nice to know that you believe in the same thing as me when it comes to relationships. I'd like a guy who shares all or some of the same knowledge and opinions as I do; I feel we would connect better."

"Funny how you say that, Grace, because I am into the same thing with women."

"Are you? I feel like you're lying, all because I said what I look for in a man...and you're just copying me."

"Do I really need to copy you if I already had that interest since my first girlfriend? Back in high school, Brenna always heard about how much I'm willing to date a girl with some or all similar opinions as I do."

Grace slowly moved herself away from him, but she stopped after being about a couple inches from him. "I needed to bring something up, and I'm not sure if I mentioned it yet, but back when I was hospitalized from Nightmare Freddy, I knew you were flirting with me. Andrew...I like you as a friend, but I just can't date you. For one thing, I am uncomfortable with the idea of me being 18 and you being 26; to me, that's a huge age gap. Second of all, if we dated and got married someday, I fear being accused of marrying you for your money and not for your love; I know those kinds of women exist, and I just don't want to be targeted as that. You are a sweet man, Andrew, and whoever gets with you is a lucky woman, but I only see us being friends for life. Now, please don't get anywhere near me. I don't want to get deep into this conversation, so please leave me be."

Andrew nodded his head. "Alright. I...understand that, Grace. If you thought I was bothering you the whole time since we met, I will be glad to back off."

"Are you...upset with me?"

"No, I am not. I've been rejected before by girls; I can completely handle it."

"So, you admit you were flirting with me before...in a way?" 

"In a way, yes, since you seem to be the smartest and most caring woman I've ever met. If you want me to back off from you and just remain as friends with you, I'm okay with that."

"Look...I don't even know why we're talking about this now when we still have about an hour or so with the animatronics. It was a stupid thing to say to you right now. Sorry, I...I...don't know, Andrew!"

"Easy there, Ms. Thompson," Murray said, leaning an arm against the top of the front seats. "You don't need to panic about talking about something to get your mind off the animatronics."

"I know, but this was still a bad time to tell him." Grace sighed as she began to cry more. "I'm sorry that I'm...looking like a mess here; I just have been dealing with horrible anxiety...since the first day I spotted Nightmare Foxy outside my bedroom window at two in the morning! From that moment...all the way to witnessing my friends, parents, and--possibly--Matthew dying, all of this going on has been making me struggle with anxiety episodes!"

"Grace, you may not see it, but I'm scared as well," Andrew told her. "I lost my father to that damn Nightmare Freddy fella! Don't you think I'm a bit anxious and frustrated myself? Both of us lost people we truly love, and you're not the only one feeling like a mess right now."

"I deserve feeling more of a mess than you do, Andrew. You only lost your father, and how many loved ones have I lost so far? My parents are dead! My two best friends are dead! Matthew could also somehow die from his injuries, and he was like a son to me! Lawrence was only cut and scratched to death by Nightmare Freddy, but what about the ones I lost? Amber bled to literal death on your kitchen floor! Lauren was hung in her hospital room, stripped down and had lots of graphic stuff going on with her body! My parents...I don't even know what Nightmare Fredbear did to them. Matthew was bitten by the mouth of the Fredbear animatronic where I am employed at, and he could possibly die! You've only lost one person that was close to you, but I've lost many, and it seems like every time I lose someone, I feel more hopeless after witnessing or hearing about their death! At this point, you're luckier than I am!"

"Neither any of us are lucky, Grace. Also, no one here is more unlucky than the rest."

She only shook her head and continued sitting with nothing to say.

"Look, both of us lost at least one person that was close to us. Do I even feel more lucky than you do, just because I lost only one person? Considering the fact you lost four, maybe five, people, I feel like complete shit; yes, it may seem harder to cope with all those deaths, but I also have a hard time accepting the fact that you really lost all those people that you loved. Never do I feel any sense of luck just from losing my father only."

Grace remained silent.

Bailey started to look out the back window and noticed two glowing eyes staring back at him. "Hate to interrupt you two, but...a Nightmare is nearby."

"Who is it this time?" Ryan asked, also taking a peek out the window.

Bailey pushed him back. "Hold on there, young man. Don't let them see you."

"But who is it?"

"Judging by the eye color, it seems as if it's...shit, it's Fredbear! If it was Foxy or Chica, I'd be less terrified, but Fredbear is one I definitely fear the most."

"I think we all fear him the most, Bailey," Grace commented. "Him and Nightmare Freddy are the top two animatronics to be more afraid of, but I'm not too worried about Freddy, since he's locked up and can't do much to people right now."

"Just the two bears?"

"Yes."

Bailey took a couple explosives out of his belt. "Tell me more about Nightmare Freddy when we have the time, as I never really seen him in person, and I also don't know what he's like in terms of his behavior."

Grace moved herself away from the door and sat close to Andrew, right as Bailey opened the back door and threw a couple explosives at Nightmare Fredbear. The animatronic growled at them, picking them up and throwing them on another street far from him. The explosives soon went off, causing some cars and parts of buildings to explode. The group in the SWAT vehicle jumped from the nearby explosion.

"There's no point, Bailey," Murray said. "If you keep throwing those at him, he'll just get rid of them."

"I'm...just trying my best, alright?" Bailey replied, loading his gun and firing at Nightmare Fredbear out the door. "Stay away from us, you monster!"

Grace covered her ears. "That's not necessary, Bailey! The animatronics are bulletproof!"

"Bailey, stop!" Kelly yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, what Kelly said! What the hell are you trying to do? You're just going to encourage him to do something!"

Without hesitation, Nightmare Fredbear ran up to the SWAT vehicle with incredible speed, and he tightly gripped his hand on Bailey's arm, causing the officer to stop shooting his gun and freeze in fear. 

The animatronic began to slowly open his mouth, as if he was going to say something, but after several tense seconds of him holding onto Bailey, he finally let out a few words.

"Bad idea. You've found yourself in trouble."

As the officers tried to fight back Nightmare Fredbear, he pushed them back and immediately pulled Bailey out of the vehicle, which caused the back doors to swing shut afterwards. 

Grace cried, afraid of what she saw, and Andrew held onto her in fear, but she eventually moved his arms off her. "Didn't I say to leave me alone?"

"I'm sorry, Grace! I'm just...feeling very scared right now!" He laid his arms in his lap. "A fucking officer was just pulled out of this vehicle in front of us, like what happened to Nadeau!"

Grace stood up and ran towards the doors, seeing Bailey being dragged away by Nightmare Fredbear. "Guys, do something before your friend is dead!"

"We're doing that now!" Fraser opened one of the doors and jumped out. "Come on guys!"

The last officer to get out of the vehicle, that being Murray, stood by the doors and looked up at Grace. "Stay here, the three of you. We won't be long."

Grace closed the door after he began to run from the vehicle, and she kept watching the group of officers running after Nightmare Fredbear. As they soon disappeared in an empty and dark area with a group of trees, she spotted two other animatronics quietly following behind them.

"Shit!" she whispered and looked back at Ryan and Andrew. "I think Nightmare Fredbear is purposely trying to get the other animatronics up against them; Nightmare Foxy and Chica are joining in on this! Fredbear is probably not killing Bailey right away, so the other officers would be tempted to chase him down, and that would also make the perfect moment for the others to kill the rest of them off! Ryan, give me the radio! I need to warn them!"

Ryan reached down on the floor and grabbed the two-way radio, quickly tossing it over to Grace. She caught it in time and pressed the button to talk into it as she continued to stare out the window.

"It's Grace," she said in a hushed voice. "Hey, can you hear me? I hate to tell you, but you've got some company with the other animatronics...behind you!"

The radio distorted for a moment, and Kelly soon responded to Grace. "We see them, and we're trying our best to destroy them, and...yes! Yes! We got Chica! She's gone for good!"

She noticed a huge flash of light far away from the vehicle as soon as Kelly mentioned Nightmare Chica. "I saw and heard that. Nice! You also need to worry about Foxy, though; he's a bit more aggressive than Nightmare Chica."

"We're trying to get him right no--fuck! No!"

"What? What's going on?"

"Fraser! No! Shit!"

"Kelly, did he kill him? I don't understand what's happening!"

"Yes, he...stabbed him with his hook! You...fucking...monster!" Kelly fell silent for a moment. "Murray, try to go after Foxy and Fredbear while I help get an ambulance for Fraser! Grace, you still there? I'm sorry. I...can't talk to you now."

Grace quietly listened as he stopped talking, and she set the radio down in shock, slowly walking over to Andrew and Ryan.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked. "I couldn't really hear what they were saying."

"Good thing is that Nightmare Chica is destroyed, but...there's also an officer in trouble," she said as she sat down in a seat. "Officer Fraser got stabbed by Nightmare Foxy."

"Another officer?" He quickly stood up. "This is just crazy! Why can't we help them?"

"Are you serious, Ryan?" Andrew yelled. "We will die if we try to jump in to help them! You want to be killed?"

"I was just--"

"No! You want to be brutally murdered? Do you? They suggested that we stay in here; it's safer than being out there!"

"Enough!" Grace hollered, raising her voice as loud as possible. "Both of you...shut up! Seriously!"

The two young men silently ignored each other.

"Andrew is right, though, Ryan," she added, lowering her voice back down. "We have more of a chance dying out there than in here."

Neither one of them responded.

Grace rolled her eyes and looked back out the window, seeing the silhouette of one of the officers running back to the vehicle with another officer held by his side. As the two came into the light, she saw that it was Kelly, and he was helping Fraser to the van. 

Grace quickly opened the door. "Kelly, bring him in here and don't worry about him; we'll get him an ambulance. Focus on helping your partners."

"Are you sure, Grace?" he asked as the three helped him lift Fraser into the vehicle. 

"I'm sure. Go! Help Murray and Bailey! Call for backup! Just...do your typical officer things!"

Kelly rushed away from the SWAT vehicle, and Andrew closed the doors as soon as the rest of Fraser's body was dragged in. Placing a hand over his bleeding stomach, the officer weakly looked up at the trio, also seeing that Andrew began calling for help. 

Grace leaned over him and frantically looked around for something to use, and she laid her eyes on Andrew. "Hey! How much is that hoodie worth to you? I know you used it on me when I was bleeding!"

"Grace, a...a hoodie isn't the...best thing to use on me...to stop my bleeding," Fraser said as he closed his eyes. "Just...get me help...and...leave the paramedics to...do the job."

"How did Nightmare Foxy even stab you?" She quickly took off her shirt, soon revealing a tank top she had on underneath, and lifted up his head, placing the shirt under it. "Didn't you have armor on?"

"I did...but he...somehow...forced it off me. I...don't know how...he did it."

"Hang in there," Andrew told the officer. "The operator is sending out an ambulance right now."

"Can you hurry up with the call, Andrew, please?" Grace asked him. "Until the ambulance gets here, I'd like to call Sofia and see if I can get any medical advice from her to help out Fraser in the meantime."

"Yeah, just a second." Andrew paced back and forth quickly and nervously as he continued to talk on the phone.

She looked back down at Fraser and adjusted her shirt to make sure he was laying down comfortably. "I don't think the ambulance would take that long to get here. It better not take its time."

"Grace, it's...fine," Fraser said. "I...know I'm bleeding...out...but I'll be okay...for a few minutes."

"For a few minutes, yes, you will, but after that...I don't know. I hate to scare you, but after a few minutes, you may die; that's why I wish the damn ambulance will come as fast as it can!"

Lifting up a shaky hand off his stomach, opening his eyes and seeing blood on it, he sighed at Grace. "Grace, I said that...you don't need to...worry. I know I'm...bleeding...but you shouldn't...panic."

"But look at you! An animatronic just stabbed you, and you could bleed to death! Do your partners want you dead? Do all three of us want you dead? Of course not! You are not okay, Fraser, and I think I have the right to worry about you!"

After what seemed like a long time of him talking on the phone, Andrew took it away from his ear and quickly handed it over to Grace. "There! Call Sofia!"

"Thank you!" She snatched the phone from him and dialed Sofia's number, placing the phone up to her ear and waited for an answer. "Shit! Pick up, Sofia!"

The phone continued to ring several times as Grace kept checking on the officer, in case he was comfortable despite the pain he was feeling. She placed a hand on his chest and proceeded to wait for an answer from Sofia.

Fraser slowly set his hand down beside him and closed his eyes again. Grace grew more anxious just from seeing him in the condition he was in. She didn't know the officer that well, but she suspected for herself that she would begin to cry if she started to lose him.

"Fuck!" she screamed as the phone stopped ringing. 

"Did she not answer?" Andrew looked over at her and walked over to where she was kneeling down.

"She didn't answer me. The phone rang the whole time and then stopped."

"Look, the ambulance will be here soon anyways. Just keep an eye on Fraser until the paramedics arrive."

Grace silently adjusted herself until she was completely sitting on the floor of the vehicle. The injured officer kept looking up at her whenever he would open his eyes. Seeing him suffer from pain made Grace feel even more sorry for him the longer she kept her eyes on him. Fraser rolled his head over until he was staring up at the top of the SWAT van, and he closed his eyes again, placing a hand back over his injury.

"I wish we had something we could use to help you," she told him. "But we don't have any towels or whatever to stop your bleeding. You have some tools and stuff with you, but it looks like they're all weapons."

"I said...not to worry...about it." The officer kept his eyes shut. "I'll...be fine for now."

A few minutes passed by, and no ambulance was in sight. Grace nervously watched out for it as she stayed by Fraser's side, refusing to leave him. She looked back as she noticed his breathing slow down, and she quickly glanced back at Andrew.

"Please tell me the ambulance is down the road or something!" She felt tears running down her face. "Fraser isn't looking too good here!"

Andrew kept looking out the back window. "I don't see anything yet!"

Grace scrambled to reach for the radio. "I don't know if they did this at all, but I'm going to ask if they can get backup. I hate to say it, but I can't trust Kelly and Murray out there with killer animatronics that could attack them any second."

"I'm sure they already have."

"I'm going to ask anyways." She put the radio up to her and began talking into it. "Murray, Kelly, can you two hear me? Did you two get any backup? I'm sorry, but I think you need more partners to help face those animatronics."

No response.

"The hell..." Grace angrily and anxiously set the radio down and laid her eyes back on Fraser. "Guys, he's breathing even more slowly! I'm afraid we may lose him! Is that ambulance here yet?"

"There's still nothing." Andrew crossed his arms as he kept staring out the window.

"And we can't leave either to take him to the hospital ourselves," Ryan added. "I mean, I don't know what the officers will think of that."

"It's too late to do that, Ryan. The ambulance would most likely be here by the time we would leave." Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Plus, what would we even take for transportation if we did drive him to the hospital? We never took our own vehicles when meeting up for tonight."

She eventually noticed Fraser lying completely still, even his chest wasn't moving. Grace nervously took her fingers and opened his eyes up, seeing that he wasn't responding to her touching his eyes.

She took two of her fingers and pressed them against his neck, feeling for a pulse. Grace felt her heart drop as she kept her fingers on him, not feeling anything at all.


	57. Chapter 57

When the clock in the living room reached eight in the morning, Grace sat down on Andrew's couch with Iris by her side, thinking about what happened earlier. She kept staring at the ground in shock as she started to reimagine, in her mind, what all went down a few hours before. The pictures made her shake in fear, and she grabbed Iris, holding and hugging her. The cat meowed angrily as she was being lifted up, but Grace needed some comfort with her.

Andrew stared at her from across the room, easily seeing the stress that Grace was experiencing. He sighed, feeling sorry for her, and stood up from his couch. Andrew walked into his kitchen, and Grace peeked over at him until he was out of her sight. She placed Iris back in her original spot and also got up, following Andrew into the kitchen.

She watched as he began to open his refrigerator, and his face was hidden by the door in front of him. As he started to look for something to eat, Grace snuck behind him and opened up his pantry, also searching for food.

Andrew heard her open the door and looked over at her. "I apologize, Grace."

"What for?" she asked, not paying attention to him.

"I mean, for everything. First thing, I promised myself not to be a douche, and I happened to make you feel uncomfortable while we were in the SWAT vehicle. Second of all, your family and friends and the animatronics--I can't imagine losing more loved ones. Yeah, I lost my father of course, but I wouldn't like the idea of losing more than one person I was close to. Again, Grace, you are not more unlucky than I am; I, too, am unlucky in a way from losing my father. Besides, I don't believe in having 'more luck' when it comes to how many people you loved that died. Also, I'm sorry for...just everything going on past midnight; with all of this going on, I always see you fall into anxiety and stress, and while I also feel the same way, I hate seeing you mentally suffer. 

"I wish there was a way to make this all easier for you," he continued, closing his refrigerator. "All of this going on--from you being bullied and injured by Nightmare Freddy, to Michael treating you badly, to your loved ones dying--are also things I can't seem to take in myself. I definitely wish there was a way I could take every moment from this week and get them from bothering you so much. Grace, at least the one thing I'd like to see is you smiling and having a good time without faking it. I know that stuff suddenly happens, but sometime, you'll accept that it all happened; I wish that was now, though. Seeing you so upset every day also makes me feel like shit."

Grace turned away from the pantry, leaning her back against the wall beside it. "You just don't understand, Andrew. I'd like to be happy, but you don't get what it's like to be bullied by a damn animatronic, treated like nothing by a boyfriend who's a complete jerk, and have multiple people that you've always trusted and loved...dead. Okay, maybe the whole Nightmare Freddy thing--with him really making me lose some self-esteem with only words--is something I kind of got over already, but I can't let go of the other two things."

"I think the reason you were so hurt by Freddy's words was because of your relationship with Michael. Were there ever moments where you thought he was acting like a jerk?"

"Yeah, sometimes, but I don't see what our relationship has to do with Nightmare Freddy hurting me."

"I just think that Michael treated you poorly so much that you are more prone to be emotional over the small things, like some simple insults. Grace, people can secretly treat you badly without you even knowing until later; I know that from experience." Andrew cleared his throat. "My girlfriend, Brenna..."

Grace stood in front of the wall, hesitating. "Do you really think Michael did that to me? It's like I did gain his trust, so much that whenever he did say something to me that may have been rude, I thought he was joking around; he even would admit that he was, and...I really believed that."

"That's what I think, Grace." Andrew sighed as he placed a carton of milk on the counter. "And since you did realize and felt betrayed, Nightmare Freddy insulting you and hurting you so easily may be because you thought of yourself as being...whatever he called you. Not sure if I'm making any sense here. I'm basically saying that with your self-esteem probably going down after finding out Michael's true side and realizing he may have meant the things he said to you, you kept that low self-esteem and let Nightmare Freddy make it even worse. I know that relationships like what you were in can hurt you. I also felt terrible after breaking up with Brenna; I felt like I made a mistake dating her, so I let myself drown in all these negative thoughts. It's like me getting with her was a crappy move that I made, and I then felt as if I wasn't worth the time with a girl, like everything was my fault."

She nervously nodded her head at him. "Sounds about right. Then, while still worrying about Michael, I just happened to let Nightmare Freddy bully me, which made me feel twice as worse."

"Don't let it get to you again. Nightmare Freddy is just an animatronic, and are you going to listen to him? He's evil and manipulative; don't let him try to make you feel bad about yourself."

"Evil and manipulative? Add in 'selfish,' 'aggressive,' and 'untrustworthy', and you've got yourself a full description of him."

"You can't trust all his friends, though."

"I know all of them are also untrustworthy, and they're evil, too. I just don't know what else they're like, because they can't talk--well, Fredbear can actually speak, but it seemed like he didn't say much. You know, if all of the animatronics did communicate, we'd know more about them just from how they would talk to us. Knowing how Nightmare Freddy spoke to me, he seemed to talk about himself a lot and how powerful he was compared to me."

"The only good trait he has is that he cares about his friends, which I'm surprised about that, considering he's vicious and evil."

"But he has no empathy for people. The motherfucker stabbed me, laughed at me, and left me to bleed to death; that was when I was hospitalized."

"Well, that I get. He probably cares about his friends so much, because without them, he would've been a failure at this killing spree they're on."

Grace took her back off the pantry and began to grab a box of cereal. "That does bring up a question I'd ask him when I go to visit him."

"Which is what?"

She closed the door and walked over the counter, setting the box on it. "Because of the fact he went after women more, I'd like to know what he did to them and why he went after them more. The other animatronics are going after everyone, but it makes me wonder why Freddy doesn't want to kill off every girl in this town. He better have another reason other than 'seeing them suffer, since they're--stereotypically--more emotional.' He better not give me that bullshit."

"I don't want to know for myself." Andrew watched her grab a bowl from one of the cabinets. "What he will probably tell you will disturb you."

"Disturb me?" Grace anxiously smiled at him. "Andrew, I've seen some of my loved ones cut and slaughtered to death. You think that if he tells me something disturbing, that'll make me grossed or weirded out?"

"I mean, what do you think he'd do to girls that is still considered 'evil', other than stabbing them...oh, I'd not like to think about that kind of stuff right now. I hope he doesn't...Grace, I...I can't..."

She frowned at him. "I know what you mean. Let's stop talking about it."

The room eventually turned quiet as Grace continued to make herself some breakfast. Andrew silently set the milk carton over by her, pointing at it and soon leaving the room.

"Weren't you going to eat something, too?" she called from the kitchen. "You acted like you were going to get some food!"

"I'm not hungry anymore!" he answered from the living room. "I need to get some rest, since I have work later today! You...go ahead and enjoy yourself with some breakfast!"

"You sure? If you change your mind, I can just bring you something!"

"I'm fine, Grace! Please...do not bother me for a while! I just want some peace to myself!"

* * *

"So...it's out?" Grace asked a gynecologist, as she was instructed to get down from the examination table, and she eventually looked up at the clock. "One in the afternoon, I see. Counting the time, I had that thing in for at least three days. I think I should've had the IUD removed a day ago, but I lost track of time."

"It's not going to hurt you to have it in for an extra amount of time," the gynecologist replied, throwing the used IUD in the trash and taking off her gloves afterwards. "I forgot to ask you--what made you get that temporarily?"

"You never asked me? Shit, maybe I should have brought it up myself before. I'm sorry. I'm...very tired; I didn't get any sleep at all last night." Grace sat down in a chair near the examination table, right as the gynecologist moved herself over to a desk, quickly washing her hands and soon writing on paper attached to a clipboard. "Well, let me ask you this first: have you heard of the animatronics roaming around town?"

Her question immediately caught the gynecologist's attention. "Animatronics? Yeah, I heard of them."

"I happened to be hospitalized from being attacked by one of them. The doctors at the hospital suggested I would get an IUD to prevent me from losing too much blood. I'm surprised the device actually worked. I was also able to not use any products these past three days and not bleed a single spot in that...area."

"An animatronic attacked you?" The gynecologist turned her head back to her clipboard. "May I ask how and where?"

"In my abdominal area here." Grace lifted up her shirt, pointing at her injuries. "My five sores are still healing, but I was stabbed just underneath my breasts here."

"Those look like they hurt...severely."

"Well, of course they hurt!" She laughed nervously and put her shirt back down. "Yeah, an actual...real animatronic got close to me and dug his claws in my upper stomach. I was hospitalized from my excessive bleeding, and I was told that while I was 'out', I had that IUD inserted to forcefully stop my monthly cycle for now."

"It's a good idea that they did that." The doctor set down her clipboard on the counter and stood next to Grace. "True fact: some girls are so grossed out by the idea that they have something natural that goes on every month; they hate to admit that bleeding for them every month is totally normal. What you--and other girls--deal with involves actual blood, and when the staff at the hospital used an IUD on you, that really did help minimize the risk of anemia by stopping your cycle; the device really did a great job up there, did it? If they haven't done it on you, either you would be anemic, or you probably wouldn't have...been sitting here right now."

"I have always been worried if this device was approved by the government for the use of bleeding. Is it?"

"For emergencies, it is, but I never heard any news about the FDA approving these devices just for the use of monthly cycles in non-emergency situations. As I said, you probably would have been in worse condition without it."

"It basically played a part in saving my life."

"Yes, it did." The gynecologist smiled at her. "I'm happy to hear that you survived being attacked and also did well with the IUD in you."

"Thank you." Grace shook her head and frowned. "I'm sorry that I look so exhausted; I...I just didn't get sleep...because of these animatronics roaming around at night."

"I didn't get much sleep either. I haven't been a target of them yet, but I have been staying up a lot, since I fear becoming a victim. How long are you staying up for every night when they first come out?"

"Look, can we...not talk more about them right now, please?" Grace felt her hands shake. "I'm getting nervous just thinking about them."

"Oh, yeah. That's no problem."

"So, uh, I only have one question, and it may sound crazy."

"What is it?"

Grace leaned back against the chair. "Well, I don't know if you...have knowledge on this stuff, but I need a second opinion. I asked my friend earlier, who used to be targeting to be a doctor in college, but I just don't know. The question is about my injuries."

"Grace, I do have some basic knowledge with sores and injuries. Go ahead and ask me."

"Just because of these sores being in my stomach area, would...um...pregnancy be an issue? I am not planning on having a child anytime soon--maybe in several years--but I'm worried that my injuries will be affected."

"Hey, your question at least also relates to what I specialize in." The gynecologist laughed once at her. "In all seriousness, after your wounds heal up, you'll be safe to have a child. I have heard some stories of women having surgery on their stomach area, and they soon worried about whether pregnancy will affect their surgical marks. As mentioned, you should definitely wait until all of your sores heal up, and you will be safe by then. If you get pregnant too early, as they are still trying to heal, it may cause some complications up there in your upper abdomen. Just go with your plan and wait."

"Alright. That is what my friend also told me. Just wanted to know."

"Your friend used to study to be a doctor? Do you know what field they wanted to go for?"

"She was in between surgery or...crap, I can't think of the other field. She abandoned it, though, because psychology caught her eye. Despite her leaving behind her medical knowledge from college, she still knows what to do--medically--in some situations. Hate to go into detail here, but my best friend was also attacked by an animatronic, and my friend with medical knowledge was there with us when it happened; she immediately jumped in and started practicing proper medical techniques. We couldn't save her, unfortunately, until the ambulance arrived, but my friend did at least use professional methods on my best friend."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. I...I am talking about the animatronics again, am I? I need to stop, or I'm going to...give myself a panic attack!" Grace stood up from the chair. "When can I leave? I remembered that I want to visit someone special in the hospital."

The gynecologist walked back over to pick up her clipboard. "All we needed to do anyways was to remove your IUD. If you want to leave now, you can, unless you have other questions for me. You'll need to sign out and pay at the front desk when you leave."

"Sounds fine, and I don't have any other questions for you."

Grace quickly walked out of the room and into the hallway, soon making her way up to the front desk. Sighing, she set her wallet on the counter and gave the front desk lady her credit card.

"These damn animatronics are costing me money," she told her. "I keep paying for hospital stays or doctor visits because of injuries I get from these animatronics going around town at night. I think I spent hundreds of dollars when I was in the hospital, and I'm also paying for a doctor visit right now because of them, too. I had to get a certain device removed, and that helped stop me from bleeding to death after being attacked."

"So, these animatronics really attacked you, huh?" the lady asked. "Practically everyone around town has heard of these monsters, but some people still may not believe in them. Wait, your name is Grace Thompson? I think I've seen your name in the paper before!"

"Have you? Wow. I'm surprised I'm getting recognized by strangers." Grace laughed. "Yeah, that's me. I was the one featured in the newspaper about the Nightmares."

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, aside from the part of you getting attacked, I read somewhere in the story that this 'Nightmare Freddy' guy said rude things to you, which really hurt you."

Grace remembered how she actually did tell an officer that she was bullied by one of the animatronics. "Oh, that part in the paper? I'm kind of over it. He's not bothering me so much anymore."

"You sure? I can always refer you to someone if you need to talk."

"I already have a friend who's studying to be a psychologist, but thanks anyways."

The lady shrugged her shoulders as she finished up using Grace's card, handing it over to her. "Here you go. Don't forget to fill out that paper on the counter there."

"Doing that right now," Grace said, frowning, as she picked up the pen laying next to the clipboard and began to write on the paper.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride!" she told the driver of a taxi as she quickly closed the door. "I paid you the right amount. The money I gave you should be sitting beside you!"

After watching it drive off, Grace looked back and stared up at the hospital, suddenly getting memories of her own stays at a different hospital and other memories of her loved ones. She blinked twice as she looked back down at the entrance and started to walk towards it.

She felt chills cover her body as she got through the entrance doors, and she crossed her arms, trying to ignore the feeling of the cold hitting her.

Grace was greeted by the same lady that witnessed her passing on the floor of the hospital. She set her arms on the desk and stared down at it instead of the woman.

"Is there a Matthew Afton here by any chance?" she asked the lady. "He's a seven-year-old boy, and he was admitted here due to a head injury."

The woman went onto her computer and silently started to type on it. Grace nervously looked around the hospital as she waited on the lady to finish her work.

"We...did have a Matthew Afton here." She took a closer look at her computer. "He's no longer an 'active patient.'"

"What does that mean?" Grace immediately laid her eyes back on the woman.

"It means that he was admitted here to be taken care of..." The woman sighed. "I hate to say it, but when a patient is no longer 'active,' they are, uh..."

"What?" Grace nervously smiled at her. "What does it mean?"

"It means that they're in a mortuary. Do you know what that is? It's a special room."

"No, I...have no idea what that is."

"That's where Matthew is at. Miss, I hate to break it to you, but a mortuary is where...dead bodies are kept."

Grace frowned. "Are you saying he's...gone? Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry to say, but...yes. He's really--"

"You're just lying to me!" Grace began to cry and grin at the same time, which then turned into more tears running down her face and her raising her voice. "That's bullshit! He's not dead! You're full of lies, you bitch!"

"Miss, I...am not lying to you. Matthew is held there right now."

"Stop fucking lying to me! He's not...dead!"

"Miss--"

"Don't you 'Miss' me! There is no way that he is dead! He has to be alive!" Grace slammed her fist on the desk. "He is alive! He can't be dead at all!"

"They tried their best to save him, but he passed away after his operation. Was he close to you?"

"He was my ex's little brother, and he was like a son to me, but he's...dead now?" She took her hands off the desk and kneeled down to the ground, covering her face with her hands and crying into them.

The woman from the desk got up from her chair, walking over to Grace, and bent down next to her, placing a hand on her back. "I'm sorry for your loss--"

"Get your hands off me!" Grace yelled, pushing away the woman's hand.

"Apologies." The lady stood up and backed off from her.

Grace also got up from the ground and continued to cry. "Fucking hell! He's...he's gone! Fuck!"

The woman sighed at her. "Would you want me to have someone talk to you?"

"No! I'm leaving this damn place! This is...bullshit! Matthew isn't dead! He's...he's...gone, isn't he? No, he's not! No!"

"Ma'am, do you want--"

"I said no!" Grace yelled, her voice louder than before, and it echoed throughout the main room. "I'm leaving now! Fuck this! Matthew isn't dead at all; you're just lying to me!"

"But--"

"Shut the hell up, bitch! I don't want to hear you talk to me anymore!"

Grace ran out of the hospital, and when outside, she screamed and threw herself against a wall, crying more into it as she placed her hands against it. 

"Matthew! No!" She eventually felt anger as she began to think of someone. "Michael! This is all your fucking fault! You did this to your brother! I'll never forgive you for what you have done! I wish, right now, you would just be dead, or maybe..."

Grace laughed as she began to think of the animatronics. "I think we'll make that work."


	58. Chapter 58

"Grace, I-I don't know what to say," Andrew told her as he covered his mouth in shock. "He really is...dead?"

"Yes, he is, Andrew!" She began to cry more. "I went to the hospital he was staying in, and...after asking to see him, the lady at the front desk said he was...gone! He...he really is gone forever! I wish I was just lying to you, but I'm not!"

"Can I..." He held out his arms towards her.

Grace nodded her head, knowing what he was asking for, and felt his arms wrap around her. She also placed her arms around him and started to cry into his shoulder.

"That fucking jerk!" Andrew whispered next to her ear. "He really did this to his own little brother? I hate to be harsh, but he needs to be dead rather than sitting in jail for a certain amount of time!"

Grace never responded.

"Hold on a second, Grace." He let go of her, and he rushed over to the phone. "I was going to head into work, but I'm not leaving you alone, considering you just lost a child you were close to, even the other people you also lost recently."

"I was...going to go into work myself to get a video of Michael killing Matthew, but...I think I'm going to leave that to Ryan and Elijah. I don't...have the motivation to do that." She sighed and turned towards him. "Don't skip a day of work just because of me. I'll have Iris as my 'emotional support animal' to keep me company while you're gone, but...well, I can also call Sofia if I want to hang out with her."

"I know, Grace, but after everything that has been happening you in such a short time, I'm better off staying here with you."

"Andrew, I don't want to argue with you. I'm fine by myself...seriously."

"But you lost your parents and friends, even a child that you watched over! You were criticized and bullied by an animatronic! You were also treated like shit by a guy that killed his brother! I'm not going to let you be alone here with all of that staying on your mind and stressing you out! Grace, I'm just doing this because I care. Don't you understand that?"

She remained silent again.

"I know how much you probably don't want me around, but I just--" Andrew himself began to burst into tears. "Grace, I...don't want you to be alone, because I don't know what you will do by yourself. I could be away at work, and without me knowing, you could be having these mental breakdowns. I just...I want to make sure you're okay...with me seeing for myself. I am going to be blunt with you; if I go into work, I'll be paranoid and worry about whether you're alright or not. Doesn't matter if you have a friend over or not; I want to make sure you're okay!"

"I'm fine, Andrew. Why are you acting this way? I never seen you so worked up before."

"I care about you, Grace!" he yelled through tears, and his voice gradually grew louder. "Am I a bad person for being that way? Huh? Am I? These animatronics and your boyfriend caused you pain! I'm not leaving you with all that pain holding you down! If I leave this house, I will get scared and paranoid! I know that sounds like a lie for me being a full grown, strong man, but it's fucking true!"

Grace never said a word.

Andrew covered his face and lowered his voice. "I'm so sorry, Grace. I'm a mess, too."

"Andrew, I never seen you act so...attached to me--but in a friendly way, of course. What's going on?"

"What do you mean by 'what's going on?' I just care about you."

"I never seen you act like this, though. The way you're behaving towards me is new, and it's worrying me."

"Please, do not bother me about my personality. I care about my friends so much, and that is all."

Grace noticed how nervous he was getting. "Are you positive? I...care about you, too, and I just wanted to make sure."

"Grace, I only get worked up if there are certain situations happening in my life; getting angry or just having a panic attack, some things do make me impatient and upset to the point where I act out. It's just how I am."

She sighed. "Alright. Maybe I'm just overthinking things."

Andrew, still holding the phone in his hand, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, the hospital staff suggested you need to get lots of rest to get your schedule back on track. I know that sleeping in the afternoon probably isn't the best thing, but after these animatronics are destroyed, we'll make sure your sleep schedule is balanced out normally. For now, doing so during the day is our only option. Why don't you go rest for a bit? How about I wake you around dinnertime?"

"Sounds okay to me. Stress makes me exhausted anyways."

Grace spotted Iris rolling around on the couch, and she patted her leg, instructing the cat to follow her. Iris immediately jumped off and chased after Grace towards the guest bedroom, meowing a few times at her.

As Grace eventually laid her hand on the door knob of the bedroom she was sleeping in, she glanced over to see Andrew's bedroom door wide open. She took her hand off the door knob and walked over to the entry of his room. 

"Nice room, Andrew," she told herself. "Why have you kept this door closed all the time?"

Grace looked back, seeing if Andrew was nearby, and quietly made her way into the bedroom. While she planned on taking a quick peek at his bedroom, one thing caught her eye that made her stay there for a longer time. 

Grace noticed a photo frame flipped down on his dresser, the stand pointing up. She slowly grabbed it and faced the photo towards her, revealing a picture of what seemed to be a very young Andrew with his parents standing behind him. They appeared as if they were at a birthday party somewhere, and young Andrew was smiling and waving at the camera, while his parents had their hands placed on the chair he was sitting in. However, one other person in the picture made Grace surprised.

A young girl, who appeared to be four or five, sat next to Andrew with a birthday crown on her head. A cake was on the table in front of her, reading, "Happy birthday, Mila Nelson!"

"Mila Nelson?" Grace asked herself as she kept staring at the picture. "Did Andrew have a...sister? Seems like from him telling me about himself, he was an only child. Guess not."

She set the photo frame back down in its original place and spotted a strip of paper sticking out from one of the dresser drawers. Carefully pulling on the drawer, Grace grabbed the paper out and noticed that it was an apology note, written by Andrew's sister. From reading it, Grace could tell the note was some sort of suicidal note that Mila had written; the words, "I'm sorry for everything," were scribbled across the whole paper, followed by a longer note on the back:

"Mom, Dad, Andrew, this is me writing this--Mila. I am tired of all the insults I'm receiving at school; I deal with these bullies that are hating me for being someone different. When has special people like me become such an issue to others? Is this 'Fragile X syndrome' thing I have that bad? I just decided to give up on everything at this point. I guess it takes so much to be perfect; otherwise, no one would accept you, but that is fine for me, because I will make everyone who has hated me happy without my 'weirdness' bothering them. I hate to say it, but none of you will see me finish junior high. You guys want to be happy as well? I might as well do what's best for myself and everyone around me."

Grace kept looking at the note in shock, but she suddenly heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. She quickly placed the note back in the drawer and quietly ran out of the bedroom--trying her best not to make a sound--into the guest room.

She sat on the bed and heard Andrew walking into his room while talking on the phone, eventually closing the door behind him.

She watched as Iris jumped up on the guest bed and rubbed her face against Grace's arm. Grace smiled at Iris and began to pet her, but she eventually frowned at the cat, remembering what she saw in Andrew's bedroom.

"Andrew had a sister he never told me about," she whispered. "Did she really die by suicide?"

Iris continued to rub her face against Grace in response.

"And this Mila girl had Fragile X syndrome? That condition isn't actually as common as I think it is."

Sighing once from thinking about Mila, Grace quickly changed into a pair of pajamas to make herself feel more comfortable. As she finished up putting on her top, she peeked out the doorway of the bedroom and noticed that Andrew's door was still closed. Grace heard him proceeding to talk on the phone behind his door, although his voice was muffled.

She walked back to the bed, where she got under the covers and began to lay there with her eyes open. Iris snuggled up next to her, purring loudly as she also got comfortable. 

Although she wanted to go to sleep, she continued to stay awake as she kept thinking about Mila. Grace also wondered why Andrew never mentioned his sister to her in the first place.

* * *

"Grace, I made some food," she heard a man's voice say to her, and she also felt him touch her shoulder. "I'm about to put it in the refrigerator, so come down if you want some. You need to eat anyways, since you've been withdrawing a bit from food lately."

Grace opened her eyes to see Iris asleep next to her--with her hand resting on the cat's body--and rolled over to the side in the bed, noticing Andrew standing over her. "What time is it?"

"It's 7:30," he replied and took his hand off her. "You also need to be awake for tonight anyways. We just have Nightmare Fredbear and Foxy to go after later."

"Alright. Give me a second to...regain my alertness here." Grace sat up in bed, which caused Iris to wake up as well, and closed her eyes for a moment. "Now, are we going back with the same officers that we had the night before, or will we be with different people?"

"I heard that the officers we had before are taking a break because of their partners' deaths. I'm not sure who we are getting this time, so I hope these new officers are as skilled as Murray and all his four partners."

Grace opened her eyes again. "I hope so, too. Also, where did you hear that we're working with new officers?"

"Nicholas called me from the facility again. He said that he got into contact with another team of officers here who are willing to have us help track down the animatronics. He also asked where I lived, which I told him, and he later said that the new officers will pick us up here around 10 tonight. I questioned why they want to have us with them so early, but Nicholas told me that we had to get our group back together, come up with a plan, and all that."

"What about Sofia's group?"

"I haven't heard anything about them yet."

Grace slowly got out of the bed and grabbed the clothes she wore before off a chair. "Did you happen to ask how that one bastard is doing there...if you know who I'm talking about?"

"Yeah, I did. Of course it's not midnight yet, so he's currently inactive, but Nicholas did mention to me that he's going crazy from being held there. Before six AM the night before, Nightmare Freddy went absolutely insane with the officers there. Nicholas said that at one point, Freddy tried to strangle an officer when they let his arms free, since they had to...do something with him. I can't remember what they were doing exactly, but it was probably something about testing out his arm that they had poured water on. Anyways, Nightmare Freddy even kept insulting them, as usual, and had to be held down after he started to act all crazy."

"His first intention is to attack whenever he feels that he is in danger; that's how he typically is, Andrew. Also, the insulting thing isn't anything new, since I know already that he has a huge hatred for people." She looked down at the clothes she had in her hands and started to lay them on the bed. "Besides, it's impossible to actually calm him without needing to hold him down if he acts up. I mean, the officers can't just inject something into him, like he is some person or animal, and then expect him to be relaxed. Well, he is technically an animal, but he's an animal made from metal."

"I know." Andrew placed his hands in his jean pockets. "Anyways, I see you want to change clothes. I'll leave you be for a bit, and you can come down and get some food."

"What did you make?"

"Made some calzones with cheese, pepperoni, and asparagus in them. I also put some spices on top to give them a bit more flavor. It's something basic, and cheap, that I think you would also enjoy eating."

"They do sound good."

"Well, just come downstairs when you're ready." Andrew smiled at Grace and closed the door as he left, leaving her by herself in the room.

She threw her clothes on her bed, which caused Iris to jump back in fear, and took off her pajamas. Quickly dressing into her clothes, Grace took her set of pajamas and set them on the chair in the bedroom.

"Come on, Iris!" She opened the bedroom door and waited for Iris to follow her, but the cat continued to stay on the bed. "You really don't want to come with me? Fine, but don't be causing problems."

Grace quickly left the room, leaving the door cracked open for Iris, and--feeling exhausted--slowly walked down the stairs.

She peeked in the kitchen entry to see Andrew placing some dishes in the sink. It didn't take long for him to notice Grace staring right at him, and he flashed a nervous smile at her.

"How did you sleep?" he asked. "I know you only got three or four hours of rest, but that's better than no sleep."

"Not the best sleep I've ever got, but it's something." She walked over to a big plate of the meal that Andrew made. "I think what helped me, though, was when Iris laid down next to me; that seemed to have made me feel comfortable with her there."

"I saw that when I walked into your room. Very cute moment."

Grace spotted the food sitting on the table. "That's what you made? They all look really good."

"I made more than one, since I just want to be a bit cheap and let us have leftovers. I know it's funny that I'm saying that I wanted 'to be cheap,' but I mean...I don't regret being so frugal sometimes."

"I wasn't questioning how you spend all your money, but nice to know that."

He chuckled at her. "Sorry, Grace. I'm just...I don't know."

"What?"

"I'm just a bit tired. After you fell asleep, I went to bed, too, but I woke up earlier than you did to make dinner. Kind of like you, my mind is...everywhere right now."

"Right." She kept staring at him for a moment, and she soon grabbed a plate from one of the cabinets. "Andrew, I don't want to get in your business, but I know you've been a bit agitated lately. Look, I know we encountered officers dying from the animatronics, you lost your father, and everything else, but you have been so jumpy and paranoid with me around. I know that you care for me, but it hurts me to see you like this. You can still look after me, but please, Andrew..."

Andrew laid his eyes back on Grace and watched her grab a calzone off the bigger plate on the table. "Grace, you don't need to fear. I had a chat with Sofia before I had my own nap, and even she thinks that I am working myself up over your health and safety. If it really bothers and hurts you, I'll be glad to work on relaxing myself more. I think I do deserve it."

Grace picked up the calzone she grabbed off the other plate and began to take a bite into it, but she waited to talk until she stopped chewing. "Hey, I just think we both need to chill out. We keep working ourselves up, each one of us will be just as stressed out."

"Yeah, you're...right." He took a deep breath and set another dish in the kitchen sink. "And despite everything happening to us, we'll both adjust. It may take us a bit, but we will get there. Promise."

Grace nodded her head. "Also, while I may have not been living here that long, it just feels weird being here. Not only is it because I haven't had a sleepover since my elementary school days, although this isn't some fun sleepover, but I'm also here for a reason."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "And I am still here, too, for almost the same reason, but hang in there, alright?"

She set her plate down on the table and suddenly wrapped her arms around him, softly crying into his chest. Andrew hugged her as well and lightly patted her back with one hand.

"I know this has all been unexpected, but as I said, we'll adjust," he whispered. "Try to eat the rest of your food, if you can, and we will be ready to go soon for tonight, okay?"

"Yeah," Grace replied quietly and took her arms off him, picking up her plate and proceeding to bite into her dinner. "This is...good, by the way."

"Thank you. Didn't really take me that long to make; I think it only took me 15 to 20 minutes total for all of them."

"That's not bad."

"It was something easy. Literally, I just woke up, thought of a meal idea in less than a minute, and got straight to it. Ever had those moments where you wake up and feel hungry? That's how I felt."

"A lot, but lately, I haven't been that way." She paused as she took another bite. "Could be because of my weight slightly decreasing. I've lost nearly a pound, maybe over that now, still just from withdrawing from food from a bit. If I had a higher metabolism, I'd think my weight would remain balanced."

"Well, that's something I'm a bit concerned about, but just try to eat as much as you can. If you can't finish it all, I'm not going to complain."

She continued eating in silence, seeing Andrew run some water over the dishes he placed in the sink. The room remained quiet for a few moments as Grace eventually began to hover her now empty plate over the sink, looking up at Andrew.

"Let me take care of this," she said as she waited for him to move the faucet towards her direction.

"No, I got it." He took the plate from her. "You go relax for a bit. Play with Iris or something."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I mean it, Grace. Go get yourself a break for several minutes."

"Alright then." She sighed and walked away from him, making her way into the living room and spotting Iris laying in the middle of the floor. "Well, hi there, Iris."

The cat meowed in response and rolled over on the floor. Grace bent down and began to pet Iris, causing her to meow once again and roll over across the hardwood floor more. She eventually got back up on her feet and rubbed her face against Grace's.

"You really know how to make me happy, do you?"

Iris continued to brush her face against Grace's.

"Of course you do."

Grace carefully picked up Iris and sat on the couch with her, allowing her to get comfortable with Grace. The cat walked around on the couch for a moment before she finally laid herself down.

Andrew later found himself standing in the living room next to where Grace was sitting. She spotted him looking at her and gave him a look that told him she was confused.

"Sorry, Grace," he said. "I had something that I needed to do, but I forgot what it is."

Unsure how to reply, Grace laid her eyes back on Iris. "Oh. Need me to help you remember?"

"No, don't worry about it."

He fell back into silence and shook his head. "I'm not sure what it is I wanted to do. Anyways, I know that I need to lay back a bit myself for a few minutes. I'll be in my room if you need anything. Remember, we leave my house at 10 tonight. The officers picking us up will be out there--" Andrew pointed out the window showing the road outside his house. "--and if I'm not in here when they are outside, be sure to come get me. If I happen to be in the living room and you aren't, then I'll get you."

"I'll try to remember to keep an eye out for them, Andrew."

"Alright. Well, I'm going to my bedroom. Again, if you need anything, just...come knock on my door."

Grace kept staring at Andrew with concern as he began to walk upstairs towards his bedroom. She started to think about his sister again, and this made her jump up from the couch.

"Andrew! Wait!" Grace exclaimed, not thinking about what she was doing. "There's something...I need to talk to you about!"

Stopping in the middle of the staircase, he turned back to look at her. "Yeah? What is it?"

She nervously crossed her arms. "You may be upset at me for this, but Andrew, I know that...you had a sister."

Andrew walked back down the stairs, keeping his eyes on Grace. "How'd you know? Did you go into my room by any chance?"

"I...may have been a bit curious. I'm sorry, though."

"I knew you would've found out about her anyways." He sighed and placed his arm against the wall, also leaning his head on it. "I know I haven't mentioned her at all to you, but I had a reason not to; I just didn't want to stress myself out. I can tell you a bit about her now."

"If it'll make you feel depressed, I won't bother you more about Mila."

"No, I'm fine with talking about her."

Grace sat back down on the couch, slowly moving Iris out of her way, and watched as Andrew also got himself on the couch next to her. "So, uh, did she really...kill herself? I found a note in your dresser that seemed like it was a suicide note."

"Yeah, she really did. Stole my father's gun and took a shot to her face." He began to pet Iris once she brushed her face against his arm. "Back when I was only 11, I noticed Mila--who was the same age, and yes, we were fraternal twins--started to act a bit strange. I already knew about her disability and how she behaved, but I also knew that she definitely acted way different than before. Sometimes, she'd wear fall or winter clothing during the warmer seasons, but I would also see some cuts on her arms and legs underneath the clothing she used to cover these cuts up. I informed my parents as soon as I noticed these, and they immediately started to get her some help. 

"One night, though, she snuck into our parents' room, took the gun out of my father's safe--which I'm not sure how she knew the code to it after my father would change it multiple times for her safety--and went back up to her room. We all heard the sound of a gunshot, and all three of us woke up right away. I ran up to her room first before my parents did, and I saw her lying on the ground, all covered in blood with a gunshot wound on her forehead. I screamed, cried, and bent myself down next to her, trying to get her to respond to me; being a child at the time, I didn't know if she'd actually talk to me, despite her having a bullet shot through her head. My parents called 911, but Mila died as soon as she got to the hospital. Apparently, the bullet didn't go all the way through somehow and stayed in her brain, causing her to have a couple life-threatening problems."

"I'm sorry, Andrew." Grace set her hand on his forearm.

"Don't worry, Grace. You don't need to apologize to me." Andrew sighed as he got up from the couch. "And you wonder why I'm acting so paranoid and clingy towards you? Let me say that Mila's suicide is the reason I'm behaving in such a towards you; it seems like ever since that night of being traumatized by her death, I just develop this sort of attachment to anyone I become friends with when something bad happens to them, and if I'm not around, I feel uneasy and worried and have to be there with them."

"So...you're just paranoid about whenever something horrible happens to someone you're very close to, and like you said, it seems like you always have to be there to make sure they're okay?"

"Exactly, and during my high school years, I easily showed signs of some anxiety disorder, which I later was revealed to have that. When I started dating Brenna, there was one incident where she nearly got into a car crash, and as I was on the phone with her, I just broke out at her; I remember that I kept asking if she was alright, which she told me to 'calm down' and 'not worry about it.' Turns out she was drinking as she was driving when heading home from some dance my school had, and I found it crazy that she never got caught. Well, even dating her made me feel a lot worse, and some of my anxiety increased just because of how that...bitch secretly treated me."

"You're quite an amazing guy for going through all of that and working as a 911 operator, though you later want to be a cop. I bet you get some calls about people dying or them being in some other dangerous situations. Right?"

"I do get a lot more than you think, but the more I worked, the more I adjusted to these calls. I still am bothered by what happened back in 1968 today--can't believe Mila did that because some heartless assholes were bullying her--but I'm...trying my best, even with my father recently being killed by Nightmare Freddy."

Grace smiled at him. "Like you said earlier, we'll adjust. I promise you...we'll be fine."

"Yeah, I...I know."

She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Look, we both lost two people in our families, dealt with shitty relationships, and...are just mentally unstable in a way, but we can get through all of our problems. Trust me, Andrew; it is hard, as I used to think before, but I believe we can adjust soon enough."


	59. Chapter 59

Later that night, Grace, Andrew, and Ryan grouped up together again in front of the house. The new group of officers introduced themselves to the trio as they all climbed into the vehicle.

"Just as a note, Miss," one of the officers--who introduced himself as "Officer Iverson"--told Grace. "I did talk with the other team, who is currently working with all your other three friends. We're both going after this Nightmare Foxy fella tonight, but when it comes down to Fredbear, we may all regroup and work together: I heard that bastard is the strongest one that was built."

"Sounds fair," she replied. "Besides, I wouldn't count one of those three as my 'friend,' just saying."

"Any reason why?"

"That's none of your business."

"Alright, my bad. I won't bother you anymore, Miss." Iverson glanced over to the officer sitting next to him. "Officer Richards, what were the names of those three fellow citizens? We need their names if we're ever going to get in contact with them."

Richards--who happened to be the only current female federal SWAT officer--looked down at a piece of paper in her lap. "Got their full names all here. You need both their first and last names?"

"Yes, both of them, please."

She stared back at the rest of the group. "I'm sorry for this, everyone. I'm really new to this job."

"No one's judging you." Ryan smiled at her. "You're completely fine."

"Well, thanks, young man." Richards focused her eyes back on the paper and cleared her throat. "Okay, there is Ethan Moore, Elijah Rivera, and Sofia Malara; those are the three with the other team of officers we have."

"What are their phone numbers by any chance? You have those bits of information?"

"Right here." She handed the paper over to Iverson. 

"Perfect!" He set the paper on his lap. "I'm going to talk to the officers Ms. Thompson's friends are with and see what we're all going to do. I know we planned to get together to go after Nightmare Fredbear, but I'm just going to see what we're going to do about Foxy."

"I was about to say," Grace commented. "If we're both going after Foxy, though we're still in separated teams, we are all still...technically working together."

"She's right." Richards took her rifle and began to load bullets into it. "Seems like both teams will have to be together on these last two animatronics."

"Well, neither one of our teams are going to take on Nightmare Fredbear without the other there to help them," Iverson said, leaning his hands on the steering wheel. "Like I mentioned, he is supposedly the strongest one, and if we wait until we're both together, destroying him won't be as difficult."

"I'd say that we all focus on Foxy for now," another officer--named Officer Garcia--suggested. "When we take care of him, we could try to also go after Fredbear."

"Be warned," Grace added. "Nightmare Fredbear probably has more victims than the other animatronics. I know he hasn't been active for a long time, but based on how aggressive he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he has killed more people. He's already murdered my parents, my two best friends, and a couple officers from my team I had the night before, but that was all in a couple days or so."

"Sorry to hear that, sweetie." Richards looked back at her with fear. "Nightmare Fredbear did all of that?"

"Yes, he has. The only bodies I haven't seen were my parents' bodies, but I really believe they were attacked. Our whole group was being chased by Fredbear, as we were in our cars, and we happened to lose sight of my parents' vehicle. Before I know it, Nightmare Fredbear is appearing out of the shadows with blood on his teeth and body."

"I'm sure some of the other officers will happen to find their bodies."

"Well, I doubt that will ever happen. Sometimes, the Nightmares take the bodies of people they killed and hide them."

"That hasn't happened much lately." Andrew adjusted himself in his seat. "But although they may still do it sometimes, the animatronics most likely don't see the point of hiding bodies if everyone knows about their presence now."

"Well, of course." Grace nervously grinned at him. "I mean, they do want to scare everyone, so it would make sense if they are leaving dead bodies out in the open more."

Iverson suddenly looked out the window as he noticed a smaller van pulling up behind them. "Looks like one of the local news channels are here to keep us company."

"What do they want?" Grace peeked through the back window to see a reporter stepping out of the front seat.

"Just hold on. Maybe they're here for something else. Let's see what they actually want."

The reporter--a young black woman with curly hair and a red two-piece suit on--approached the SWAT vehicle and knocked on the door. Iverson rolled down his window and leaned in to hear what she had to say.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but is this Grace Thompson girl with you by any chance?" the reporter asked. "I just have a few questions for her."

"Well, what do you have to ask her?" Iverson rested his arm over the crack where the window was down. "I won't say whether she is here or not until you tell me. I have some second thoughts about news channels and how...viewer-thirsty they are."

"That's quite a term you made up there," Richards laughed.

"We're just a local news station, sir," the reporter set her microphone down by her side. "We don't care if we gain national attention or not. I don't see why we would want to be recognized so badly. Besides, the story of these animatronics roaming around already caught the attention of the states right next to Rhode Island, and there are some people from out of state swarming this town just to help hunt down the Nightmares."

"Really?" he asked, shocked, but he soon blinked his eyes a few times. "Anyways, what do you all want to ask this Grace girl?"

"I want to ask about her experience encountering one of the animatronics she was supposedly attacked by. Maybe I will also ask her some other things without making the questions sound too personal. Camera or off-camera, it'd be nice to know some information from her about these Nightmares."

Grace sighed and quickly jumped out the back of the vehicle, standing next to the reporter. "I'm here. I would like to get some things out there."

The reporter set a hand on Grace's shoulder. "You want to be on TV or not, honey? Whatever you want, we'll make sure you are comfortable telling us some information."

"What do you mean whether I want to be on TV or not? Are we talking physically...or what?

"Yes, physically. If you don't want to be on camera, we'll just read off anything you say to us on TV without showing you."

"Um, I'm not really that camera shy or anything. You can put me on TV if you'd like. I honestly don't care whether I make a physical appearance or not."

"But it's whatever you prefer."

Grace looked back and saw a couple men with cameras set their equipment down as they waited for her to answer. She turned back towards the reporter. 

"I...think I prefer staying off camera." Grace sighed at her. "Make it quick, though, because I'll be leaving soon to help these officers destroy the animatronics."

"No problem." The reporter took a small piece of paper out of her suit pocket and glanced down at it, also hovering a pen over it. "I'll ask you first: how would you describe how you were feeling when you came across this Nightmare Freddy animatronic, and as a second question, what is it he did to you?"

Grace crossed her arms. "I mostly felt a lot of anxiety, but I did try my hardest to stay as brave as possible. He enjoys seeing us scared of him and his friends when they're around us, and the one thing they'd hate is when we show that we're not afraid of them. Despite me attempting to remain calm around him, though, my entire body just froze in fear, and I couldn't find the ability to run away from him. After a moment, he dug his claws into my upper stomach, right underneath my breasts. 

"It's kind of hard to explain what it felt like, but it felt like a mix of pain and a burning sensation. It was like where I was being stabbed had a mixture of my body being on fire and it being stabbed as well for the pain aspect, as if there was a knife going through it, but imagine if there were five knives instead of just one. This may sound gory, but I could feel Nightmare Freddy's fingers through my body as he kept them in there for a bit. I collapsed on the ground and cried in pain, also bleeding out, until an ambulance came for me."

The reporter remained silent as she finished writing. "And how would you describe the appearance of each one of the animatronics, aside from them looking tattered and torn up?"

"Every one of them is over seven feet tall or almost that. From encountering Freddy, he was roughly seven foot-two. Nightmare Fredbear is probably an inch or two above Nightmare Freddy. Nightmare Foxy is exactly seven feet. Bonnie is six foot-eleven, I think, and Chica is probably the same height as he is. Overall, there isn't much to say about their appearances, other than the fact they look like monsters straight out of someone's dreams, hence why I named them 'Nightmares.'"

"One of them can actually talk to people. Is that true, and who is it that has that ability?"

"Nightmare Freddy can definitely talk for sure. He's said so much rude, vulgar stuff to me that I am uncomfortable just talking about him now. His one friend, Fredbear, can also talk; I found this out last night. It didn't seem like he said a lot, though."

"Now, how would you describe your overall experience helping out these nice officers tracking the animatronics down?"

"It's a dangerous task, without a doubt. You know, I'm out here with my two friends and these officers, and even with protection, we are still prone to being attacked. I fear about getting bitten and scratched to bits, and...I honestly wish this was all over now. I mean, I have a now unbalanced sleep schedule, I'm withdrawing from food, and I'm just...a mess! We all still have a couple Nightmares to track down, though. I would give myself a break, but even though this is stressing me out, I also want to make sure they're destroyed for good."

"Seems like this interview is getting more personal for you. I'll...back up a bit and ask a different question." The reporter began to think for a moment. "I heard that you did find out who built these animatronics. Any idea on who that person is?"

"His name is William Afton, father of my ex-boyfriend and his little brother I would babysit. William usually liked to hang out at where I worked--Fredbear's Family Diner--but ever since he started getting recognized, he's been on the run. I know some of the officers are hunting him down, while the others are trying to go after the animatronics, but I never heard any other information about him. I just know that he's getting away from the cops." Grace pulled out the sketches William drew and handed the paper to the reporter. "The other team of officers I was with found this as they were raiding his house. I was told I can hang onto it if I wanted to, but I'd figure you would like to show this on TV."

She stared at the paper in shock. "Wow. These were actually made by William Afton?"

"Those are his actual drawings, yes. Be sure to mail it back to me whenever you're done, because I'd like both the local and federal cops to have a look at it."

"Thank you so much, and we will get it back to you." The reporter gave the paper to one of the cameramen. "Anyways, I do have just one more question for you. I also heard that the animatronics are easily being destroyed. How many are left roaming around?"

"Nightmare Foxy and Fredbear are left, and we're trying to go after both of them tonight and maybe tomorrow. They are both still running around this town, but we're not sure where they exactly are, so we'll have to lure them if we want to destroy them. Nightmare Freddy is still up and active, but he's far from here, as he's locked up in a special facility; since he could talk, he was there to tell the officers--who captured him--the person who built him. He did reveal who it was, as I said before that it was William Afton, but I asked the officers at the facility to leave him be until I go see him."

The reporter stopped writing and stared back up at Grace. "That's all the questions I can think of for now. I'll get this information you gave me to the rest of the technology team we have back at our studio, just so we can summarize every answer."

"That was it?"

"Yeah. I can't seem to think about any other questions for you."

"Well, I do have to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

Grace laughed. "You mentioned earlier some people that live out of this state are coming in to get a look at the animatronics themselves. Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people are young teenagers thinking that something risky is fun."

Grace immediately began to think about Michael and his best friends. "I...would have to agree on that."

The reporter began to walk towards the news station van. "Well, thanks for your time, Grace. We will get this information you told us out there to the public."

"No problem. Whether people believe in these animatronics or not, they need to know that they must remain safe."

"Speaking of that, you stay safe, Grace. Wish you luck on hunting them down."

"You too. Try not to get killed yourself."

"I'll be watching for them." The reporter opened one of the doors to the van and stepped inside.

Exhausted, Grace walked back to the SWAT vehicle and slowly got inside the back, closing the set of doors behind her. "They wanted to interview me. Kind of a bad time to talk to me now when the animatronics will be active soon."

"Is it true that some people out of Rhode Island are seriously rushing towards this town to see the animatronics?" Andrew asked. "I overheard you and that news reporter talking about it."

"I hate to say it, but only idiots like them would waste the gas in their car just to see these animatronics that will only last for six hours. Besides, the chances of these people seeing them are very low. I think at this point, Nightmare Fredbear and Foxy are too worried about us and not the other people."

"Makes sense that they would want us out of the way. Well, we're going to make sure they're out of our way."

"Of course." Grace was about to say something when she suddenly got interrupted by her phone ringing. "Hold on. I need to see who's calling me. Be quiet, everyone, please."

The vehicle fell silent as she set the phone up beside her ear, nervously talking into the speaker. She widened her eyes as soon as she recognized the voice that replied back to her.

"Oh, hi, Elijah!" Grace felt herself relax. "What's going on?"

"Grace, I just wanted to see if your group is ready for getting the last two Nightmares tonight. My team is trying to go for both of them at once if we can, and I didn't know if your team wanted to join us so we have some extra help."

"I don't know if we're completely ready. I can ask the officers if they are."

"Ready for what, Ms. Thompson?" Iverson asked, easily hearing what Grace was saying.

Grace pulled the phone away from her ear, looking over at him. "Elijah wants to know if we're all ready to go. I mean, it is close to midnight, so I didn't know if we are prepared to head out. He's also asking if we should join his team."

"We might as well," Richards told Iverson, sitting back in her seat. "I don't see the point of us separating if one of the animatronics are too tough for just five officers. We will need to double up on Fredbear just to be safe."

Grace placed the phone up to her ear. "Okay, we're considering it. Where are you--wait, the officers in my group can ask where yours is. He can just talk through the radio."

Iverson heard her once again and picked up the radio in front of him, pressing a button that caused a short distorted sound. "Officer Zielder's team, can you hear me?"

He set it down as he waited for a response, taking his finger off the button. The radio distorted yet again as a voice tried to come through, but whoever was trying to speak sounded faint.

"This is Officer Iverson. Zieldler, can you hear me okay?"

He listened as the radio kept distorting, but eventually, the same voice went through clearly. The officer on the other end confirmed that he heard Iverson with no problems.

"Where are you and your group located right now?" Iverson paused as he glanced around through the front window. "I'm here with Grace and two of her friends, and I know your team has some of her other friends as well. We're thinking about meeting up with your group."

The radio distorted again as Zieldler began to talk. "We are near the courthouse on the south side of town. Know where that area is?"

"I may have an idea where you are right now. I'll be there soon."

"Alright, but try to come quick. We got 20 minutes until that clock strikes 12."

"Just checking, who is it we're after first?"

"Uh, I believe that fox animatronic is our first target." The radio kept blipping out, but Zieldler's voice became clear again. "We are all going for the bear next after him."

"20 minutes. Going after Foxy. Got that." Iverson set the radio down in its holder and sighed. "Hear that? 20 minutes until we go get Nightmare Foxy first, folks--just as a warning."

Grace focused back on talking to Elijah. "Okay, we're going to meet you there. Iverson just talked to your group."

"Yeah, I heard his voice through the radio in this vehicle I'm in," Elijah said and chuckled. "Two animatronics--not counting Freddy--are left. Let's try to get both of them tonight. Ready?"

She sighed. "Yeah. This...is it. Let's go ahead and get this done."


	60. Chapter 60

Iverson held tightly onto the radio as he continued to talk to Zieldler. The two communicated with each other as they were beginning to chase down Nightmare Foxy, and based off how well their cooperation was, Grace started to wonder if both groups were about to come together to trap Foxy in a certain area and get rid of him for good.

It was several minutes after midnight, and the action was already happening. Zieldler kept reminding Iverson of where his group was when they spotted Nightmare Foxy trying to escape them. Iverson drove towards the team as Zieldler continued to chase down the animatronic, updating the other group on where Foxy was at. The SWAT officer on Grace's team came up with his own way to go towards Sofia's team, while also attempting to get his glimpse of the fox animatronic.

"Where are you now?" Iverson asked through the radio. 

"Uh, looks like we're coming up to what appears to be a park," Zieldler replied. "Great! Now, we lost sight of him! But it doesn't seem like he left this area. We're going to get on foot and search for him."

"What is your exact location?"

"We're a few blocks down from the courthouse. We are right in the middle of town."

"Alright. I think I still know where you are. I'll try to hurry there."

"Whatever you do, don't put your sirens on. Supposedly, the animatronics run away if certain noises like that play near them; they'll know that trouble is coming for them. I know how much of a habit it is to put the sirens on your vehicle whenever you're in a rush, but keep it off, please. We want to be quiet when looking for the animatronics."

"Got that. I will be there soon, Zieldler."

As he proceeded to drive, Iverson stepped slightly harder on the gas pedal, speeding up the vehicle a bit. He reached towards the button to put his siren on, but he sighed and took his hand away from it.

"Sorry." He peeked in the rearview mirror. "Like he said, it's a habit of mine to put on these sirens when I'm in a rush. Never in my life have I not put these sirens on while also hurrying."

"If you keep those off, though, the animatronics won't likely hear us at all," Richards told him. "Just like what Officer Zieldler mentioned to you."

"I know when I helped this other SWAT team get Nightmare Freddy captured, they put their sirens on after forcing him into the back of the vehicle," Grace commented. "Of course, they wanted to desperately get him to the facility before he could try to do anything to them, but this situation is different. Iverson, just...try to remember to keep your sirens off for now."

"I will...remember that." Iverson placed the radio back up next to his mouth again. "Zieldler, is Nightmare Foxy still in the area, or has he left by any chance?"

There was silence for a moment, but Zieldler eventually talked back to him. "Can't speak to you much right now. My group is trying to look for Foxy at this moment. Can you give us a few minutes, please, and then we can talk more?"

"Got that." 

Grace looked over at Andrew, who was folding his hands in his lap and staring at the floor. She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"You okay?" she asked.

He nodded his head and continued to look at the floor. "I'm alright. Just...upset from earlier."

Grace closed her eyes and kept her hand on his shoulder. "I know what you're talking about. Hang in there."

Andrew turned his head towards her and saw her opening her eyes back up. "I...don't know how to...accept that it happened. I know that it's been 15 years, but it still gets to me as if it happened yesterday."

Their conversation attracted Ryan's attention. "What's going on? Is something up, Andrew?"

Grace held her hand up towards him. "Ryan, this is between me and Andrew. Don't get involved in this. Please."

He sat back in his seat. "Okay. I'm sorry."

She set her hand back down in her lap and laid her eyes on Andrew. "Look, when I was dealing with stress, sleep deprivation, and...all this other stuff, you did everything you could to make sure I was okay. I may still be a bit of a mess, but I want to make sure you're fine yourself. Let me take the opportunity to care for you back." 

He only buried his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his lap, sighing.

"Andrew, please." She took her hand off him. "I know how the stereotype goes; you don't need to pretend that just because you're a man, you are tough enough to get through things by yourself. Everyone has a part to them where they need someone else by their side to help them, and that includes you. Can you just let me return the favor and look after you, like what you did to me? 

"I mean, I never slept for three days straight, I got attacked by an animatronic and could've died, I heard about and seen my loved ones dying, I was more prone to fainting spells and passed out in the hospital once, I suffered a seizure during my hospital stay, I had a boyfriend who treated me like I was nothing, I had a Nightmare bully me to the point where I believed every insult he made was him being honest...do I need to go on?"

Andrew uncovered his face and never paid attention to Grace. "I...don't know. Grace, I..."

She began to hug him. "Just...please let me return the favor for you."

He sighed once again at her. "I guess...I could get some help from you; it would benefit me."

"How about after this night is over, we both go back home, call into our workplaces, get in our sleepwear, lay down on the couch together, and watch TV? I can make some breakfast while you chill back for a bit, and we can eat as we watch whatever is on television. If you're just tired, we can lay on your bed together and relax that way--as friends, though, obviously."

"That all sounds nice, but I prefer if we stay awake. I don't want to cuddle with you on my bed, because you are only my friend and not my girlfriend. Sorry, I just don't do that sort of stuff, unless I was dating you."

"I never mentioned cuddling." She stopped hugging him.

"But even if you are in my bed with me, Grace, I just don't like the idea of a friend with me in there--guys or girls."

"How come?"

"I just...don't want people to give me all that 'Hey, you had a female friend in bed with you? Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?' shit. I'm tired of people automatically thinking that."

"Some people may think we're a couple anyways since we're living together."

"Alright, let's just...relax in bed together. Fuck what people think, and let's do that as friends."

"Friends only. It better be that way."

"Promise."

"Well, it better not be more than that anyways." Grace laughed. "Hate to get personal here, but ever since all of this animatronic stuff has been happening, my mood for...some fun...has been way down there; it was in the middle before, but now, it's practically nonexistent. Love what stress can really do to you."

"That's how messed up our bodies can get," Ryan told her. "But try not to let that stress of yours take over you any further."

"I'm trying my best to not let it take over." Grace frowned at Ryan. "It's not easy, though."

"I understand that."

Silence continued to hit the vehicle as Iverson impatiently waited for Zieldler to respond back to him. As he proceeded to speed down different roads, Richards took the radio from him without saying anything.

"Why did you take that from me?" he asked, snatching it back from her.

"You're driving with one hand," she replied. "Can you at least set the radio down or give it to me?"

"Zieldler is going to respond to me any moment. I'd like to have this with me right now, so I can immediately talk back to him."

"Picking it up from its holder isn't going to kill you. It takes like...not even five seconds to take it out."

"Yeah, and an additional five seconds for the other team to possibly be exposed to the animatronics!"

"You need to calm down, Iverson. Seriously."

"How the hell am I going to stay calm when we lost about five or more officers to these monsters? I would like to not waste a lot of time to see if the others are alright!"

"Iverson, she's right," Grace said to him. "Look, if the animatronics do chase them down, the officers on Sofia's team will be fine if they all stay in their vehicle, since these are heavy--too heavy for the animatronics to try to flip over--and armored. Besides, if you're so worried about your fellow partners, just keep in mind that I'm leaving my cat at home in the hands of an employee from work...who didn't want to come with us. You think they may be a bit exposed, too? I think at this point, the animatronics prefer going after you guys, but you all have the weaponry and equipment to get rid of these bastards. They won't be killing all of you off one-by-one; I mean, just look at the armor you have on now."

"The officers that were murdered had their armor torn off." Iverson sighed. "You don't understand. We are just as prone to being killed as these citizens are."

"You are all tactical and tough, though, and you can easily prevent your death from occurring. Us citizens here--we don't have all the special equipment and stuff that you guys have. We could try to fight off the animatronics ourselves if we could, but we are more prone to being attacked than all of you."

"Doesn't matter! We lost more than five officers!"

"Iverson, I'm just trying to be honest with you. I really think all of you can fight off the animatronics with no problems."

Iverson heard the radio distort again. "Stop talking to me. I need to communicate with Zieldler here."

Grace sat back in her seat, not saying a word.

"Updates, Zieldler?" he asked through the radio.

"We have him in our sight!" Zieldler replied with excitement. "Alright, our group is going after him! We're letting Sofia, Ethan, and Elijah help us out to catch this fox!"

"Are you guys still in the same area?"

"We are! We have Foxy trapped in a corner, and I'm having the rest of our team surround him!"

"Great! We'll be there in a bit! Talk back to me if anything goes wrong!"

Grace smiled at Andrew and Ryan. "They have him cornered! Perfect! Just have to get him destroyed...and Fredbear will be the last one!"

"He's the toughest one yet, so that also means a difficult fight," Andrew commented.

"That's true, but I'm positive that we can get him. After Nightmare Fredbear is finished off, we'll give Freddy a nice surprise about his friends." She laughed, though she also felt some anxiety hit her, causing her laugh to sound like a nervous one. "Now, I may be extremely upset with him, but I still want to have a talk with him in person. When I do go to see him, are you coming with me?"

"I haven't thought about that yet, but probably after what happened to my father, I doubt I'll go with you."

"Look, the officers here probably just want me to go by myself anyways. I mean, the facility is government property, and they may want to keep the building a secret." She turned towards the officers. "Does that sound right?"

Garcia looked back at her. "We've only had certain people visit the facility, so it's not like you're the only one who would be paying a visit there. You may bring your friend along if you want, but it's probably best if you come by yourself."

"Well, I want to do what is best for you guys. Andrew can keep a secret, though, right?" Grace laid her eyes on Andrew. "Can you?"

"I've been holding onto some secrets my whole life. You know how I told you about my sister? Ever since the incident, I've never mentioned Mila to anyone--all those 15 years. Of course I'm revealing her now, but...that's just one way I kept a big secret. Grace, if these officers don't want me there, it's fine. If you need money, I can give you some to travel there, or you can have some officers take you if they're up for it. I don't know where the facility is, but I'm sure it's far from here."

"You are right about it being far...if you travel by car," Iverson replied. "I won't say where it is exactly, but the facility is in Nebraska."

"That is in the Midwest, right, or around that area?" Grace asked him. "I've never been there before; I've always lived on the East Coast my whole life."

"You're better off getting a plane, Ms. Thompson. Officer Alexander and his team had to travel over 24 hours with a killer animatronic in their vehicle."

"A whole day? Can't imagine what that would be like. I'd be scared the whole ride there if I was with him."

"Alexander did mention to me earlier that it was a tense trip. They were worried that Nightmare Freddy would somehow break free and attack all of them, but luckily, he was still tied up the whole way there." Iverson parked the van as they all came to the park Zieldler was at. "They did take small breaks during their trip, but they never wanted to waste time staying somewhere, so each officer took turns at driving whenever one of them was too exhausted. Some of them had to hold down Nightmare Freddy whenever he was active for all those six hours."

"I still would've been terrified if I was there." Grace shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Andrew, sighing, but she remained silent.

"Something up?" he asked her.

"I just wanted to bring something up that I haven't mentioned to you yet. Um, so I've been having dreams about an animatronic lately, but it's not one of the animatronics we've seen already."

"What animatronic is this then?"

"He looks like a recolored version of Nightmare Fredbear; I remember that he's black and has a yellow hat and bow tie. I also don't know if it's just my mind, too, but he has appeared sort of...transparent, like you could see through his body."

"Well, what has he been doing in your dreams?"

"Not really anything. My dreams just show him standing around as some other weird shit goes down."

"How long has he been showing up in your dreams?"

"My first dream about him started last night, and he still makes at least one appearance whenever I go to sleep. I don't know who he is, Andrew, but I'm getting worried."

"Hey, don't fret." He set a hand on her knee. "I'm sure he'll go away eventually."

"I hope so." She nervously giggled at him. "I've actually been considering naming him for the fun of it."

"Yeah? What were you thinking about naming him?"

"I'm not too sure, but I was going for something simple, like just 'Nightmare.' I can't call him 'Fredbear,' because he obviously doesn't look like him."

"Just Nightmare, huh?"

"That's the only name I can think of for him. I don't know why I even thought about naming him; like I said, I just wanted to do it...for fun, I guess."

Iverson turned off the SWAT vehicle's engine. "Alright, you all stay here. We're going to get this Nightmare Foxy fella all by ourselves. Ms. Thompson, your other friends helped their team trap him, but they should stay with you guys for safety. Let me go get them and tell them they should join you guys back there."

"Sounds fine to me." Grace smiled at him.

He quickly loaded his gun and checked to see if he had his other weapons with him. "You ready, guys? Let's go!"

All of the officers jumped out of the vehicle, leaving Grace, Andrew, and Ryan by themselves. The three sat in silence as they heard the muffled voices of all five officers talking to each other. Grace began to lay down on the seats, but she soon asked Andrew if she was bothering him.

"You just tired or something, Grace?" he asked, not minding her feet close to him.

"Yeah, and besides, we're only staying here...to chill out. The officers are only having us tag along in case they need people who know additional information about the animatronics."

"Don't get too comfortable. We do have two animatronics we're after."

"I know."

Grace began to feel her eyes close when she eventually heard the back door to the SWAT van open. She propped her head up, seeing who it was, and she noticed Sofia, Ethan, and Elijah all climbing in.

"Hey, how's it going?" Ryan laughed. "Feels like we haven't seen you guys in forever."

Sofia was the last to get in, and she closed the doors behind her. "Well, we're back together to get the last two Nightmares. We have that fox trapped for sure, and now, he's got 10 officers against him! No way in hell is he going to be able to escape now!"

"That was...quite a wild ride we had back there," Ethan said, out of breath. "Zielder was...going over 100 miles...per hour. I thought we...would've crashed...or...something."

"100 miles per hour to chase an animatronic." Elijah found himself a seat and sat down in it. "Talk about a crazy time."

Sofia set a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Don't you think that ride was a bit fun, sweetie?"

Ethan grinned at her, remaining silent as he tried to catch his breath. "It sort of was, but when we go on our first date, we shouldn't be doing that stuff, please."

"Hold on. What date?" Grace sat up and leaned forward. "You two...romantically interested in each other now?"

"In a way, yes, we are." Sofa leaned her head on Ethan. "We're not in love just yet, but I already confessed to him that I'm starting to feel some sort of attraction towards him. We have a date scheduled in a couple days at an expensive restaurant around six in the evening."

"I told her she can dress however she wants to, but as long as it was formal." Ethan patted her leg. "Got a dress or something else that's nice in your closet?"

"I have a variety of dresses with different skirt lengths. You care about which one I wear?"

"I wouldn't wear one that is shorter than your thighs. Doubt the restaurant would allow that."

Sofia nodded her head. "If they don't allow it, it's probably because of...societal reasons--you know...with girls."

"Now, chill out there, Sofia. We are still technically friends, so it's not like we're actually dating right now."

"Yeah, my bad. I'm sorry." She immediately took her head and hand off his shoulder. "Just with my past relationships, it's always been a habit to rush."

"Well, we both agreed that if something builds up between us, we take it slow, remember?"

"I remember that. I'm...sorry."

"In my opinion, you two look cute together," Grace commented. "Whether something does build up, I think you two would be a great couple. Sofia, Ethan is great with women...and Ethan, Sofia did use to sleep around a lot with random guys, but she's willing to go for more romantic things than sexual."

"Damn right," Sofia replied. "I used to be psychotic, too, but I'm also willing to calm myself down...a lot."

As the group continued to talk, an unexpected loud noise from outside made them all fall quiet. Sofia opened the back doors and slowly stepped outside, checking out what caused the sound.

"Sofia!" Ethan exclaimed. "Be careful, please!"

"I'll be fine, sweetheart. Give me a second." She left the doors halfway open and began to walk towards the source of the sound. "Seems like someone got attacked."

"Sofia, just get back in here!" Elijah yelled, leaning his head out the back doors. "I wouldn't risk it!"

"Calm down!" she replied. "I'm just seeing what's going on...and it looks like...an officer is on the ground!"

"Get back in here! Fucking hell, Sofia!" Grace also peeked out the doors.

"It looks like the officers are now trying to destroy him...oh, no!" She began to laugh. "No, no! That is not happening!"

The whole group watched as she rushed in the vehicle, locking the doors shut behind her. An animatronic was outside the van, growling and banging his one hand and hook against the back. Nightmare Foxy peered through the window as the group quickly got on the floor, out of his sight.

"Everyone, just stay calm!" Andrew whispered. "I know he's smart, but I think if we stay in this armored car on the floor here, he'll eventually give up and leave us be! The officers did say these vehicles are our safe spots!"

Without hesitation, Nightmare Foxy found a way to rip one of the doors open, using his hook up lift a crack in the doors of the van. The entire group backed up, screaming, as the fox continued to growl aggressively at them. He took his one hand and grabbed Grace's shirt. 

She immediately tried to push him off. "Fuck off, you fox! Let me be!"

The rest tried to fight off Nightmare Foxy as he kept his grip on Grace. He first noticed Ethan trying to get him away from Grace, but the fox reached over and bit Ethan on his arm, causing him to jump back and scream and curse in pain. Andrew immediately placed his hands on his bleeding arm, helping him to the far back of the vehicle.

Not too long later, Grace quickly felt a surge of both pain and burning sensations coming from her left eye, which made her scream and cry, and also made her beg for Foxy to stop. She noticed that she was now seeing out of one eye only, and through that eye, Grace spotted Nightmare Foxy with his hook in her other eye. She soon felt pressure hit her left eye, and to her, it felt as if something was yanked out of that side of her face.

But in just a few seconds, Grace suddenly felt her vision blur and collapsed on the floor of the van, bleeding from one side of her face. The last thing she happened to see was Nightmare Foxy with an eyeball and what appeared to be a nerve attached to his hook.


	61. Chapter 61

Later that morning, Grace found herself waking up in a hospital room yet again. She noticed Andrew standing in a corner facing away from her, looking at some pictures attached to the wall. Trying not to panic, Grace tried to adjust to the one eye she was seeing out of, taking some deep breaths, and cleared her throat to get Andrew's attention.

He immediately turned back and smiled. "You're awake!"

"Yeah, no shit." She sighed. "You don't need to remind me what happened. I already know Nightmare Foxy ripped out one of my eyes."

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you. We tried our best to stop him, but it was too late."

Grace blinked her eye multiple times. "It's so weird seeing out of one eye. What did the doctors do to the other side of my face?"

"I don't know everything, but they basically controlled the bleeding and shut your eye with special glue, which will only come out with some substance--don't know the name--found in hospitals only, so don't worry about taking a shower and having the glue run down your face; that stuff is waterproof. I think they also numbed your facial muscles around that area, so the only eye you can be able to control, like blinking, is the one you still have. For now, they covered half your face with bandages."

"Why would they shut my one eye?"

"They did it to prevent debris in the air from entering the inside of where your eye was, just as a way to decrease the risk of infection." Andrew sat in a chair next to the bed. "Grace, you seem strangely calm for this. Personally, if this happened to me, I'd be freaking out."

"Well, for one thing, I'm too tired to panic, and second of all, I've already had an animatronic attack me, so it's not like this is my first injury."

"You are blind in one eye, though."

"Better than being completely blind."

"I guess...that makes sense, but I'm still terrified just from seeing you only having one eye open."

"It's okay, Andrew. It's only one eye I can see out of; I'm sure I'll adjust without any problems. If I had both of them ripped out, now that would definitely require some time to adjust; I'd probably be wearing glasses and walking around with one of those special canes or some trained dog to help me. Again, I only have one eye gone, and I'd rather much be blind in one eye than both."

"Well, how is your vision in your one eye? The staff here told me that some of your vision may still be limited now that one of your eyes are gone."

Grace never answered as she glanced around the room. "Not too bad. I'm not having problems with seeing things in the distance either, like there is a billboard sign out there--"

Andrew saw her point to a sign far from where the hospital was at. "What does it say?"

"It's an advertisement about a rock song station on the radio. It says '101.5 FM, your favorite hit rock and roll songs!' Am I right?"

He read the billboard sign for himself and looked back at her. "Yes, that's what it says, but Grace, I still think you'll need some time to adjust to seeing out of one eye. I know that...driving may sound easy for you, for example, but you'll have to be more alert when it comes to changing lanes or whatever; you now have only one eye that you can rely on to see what you're doing on the road. In my opinion, you should talk to the local cops to see what their views would be on you driving with one eye. I just think you're not ready to get on the road right away."

"Maybe you're right...and if I was completely blind, I would not be able to drive at all."

"Either way, you don't need to worry about the cops taking away your license. I just think they'll let you keep it--I mean, that does make sense--but they may give you a limit on how many days you should go without driving, at least until you've adjusted to your only working eye."

"Doubt it would be long until I can drive. I can still clearly see."

"You may be able to see, but things are still a bit limited with you having only one eye instead of two."

"I...don't want to argue, Andrew." Grace leaned her head back against the pillow, taking a quick peek at the clock. "I see it's mid-morning. What did the officers do about Nightmare Foxy? Did they get him?"

"After he attacked you and ripped your eye out, all the officers chased after him and tackled him to the ground. What they did after that was they all tied him up, like what the officers did to Nightmare Freddy when capturing him, so that Foxy wouldn't try to attack them or run away. They moved him to an area in the park, set explosives, and blew him up. That leaves us with Nightmare Fredbear left to deal with."

"Really? Nightmare Foxy is gone for sure, right? I just want to make sure."

"Yes, he's gone, Grace. Guaranteed. I can prove it to you if you want me to."

"It's fine, Andrew. You don't need to prove it to me." Grace started to stand up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom, noticing herself in the mirror. "So...that's the only eye I have left. What does my other eye look like since it's shut?"

Andrew stood in the doorway. "It's probably looking all squinched after they glued it shut. I wouldn't take off the bandages; leave them be until you or the doctors are actually able to remove them."

"I wasn't planning on removing them." She kept staring in the mirror, looking at the bandages that were tightly wrapped over one of her eyes and around the half side of her head. "The only thing that is bothering me is this--"

She began to play with a part of the bandages that covered her left ear and grabbed it with both hands, trying to tuck it behind. Andrew quickly walked up beside her, offering her some help.

"Are you able to do it?" Grace asked him as she took her hands off the bandages.

"You just want it tucked behind your ear?"

"Yeah, if you can do that for me."

Andrew grabbed ahold of the bandages and attempted to tuck each layer of them behind her ear, although a layer kept popping out from behind. He sighed as he kept his eyes on the one layer that wouldn't budge.

"I tried," he told her. "That one part just wouldn't stay in place."

"It's okay. Not sure who bandaged me up, but that just felt a bit...uncomfortable to me having those rub against my ear. Feels better now. Thank you."

Andrew smiled at her. "I'm going down to get some food. You need something for breakfast?"

"Can you get me some non-refrigerated stuff, please? Things like trail mix, toast, and just some fruits will be fine. If they have other stuff, like breakfast wraps or something like those, would be nice, too."

"Well, what fruits do you like?"

"Any, but don't get a kind that needs refrigerated. I may want to sleep for a bit, and I also may not eat those right away."

"If you're going to sleep, I can always go down to the cafeteria after you wake up later. It's not like I can't handle waiting to eat." Andrew backed up as Grace started to walk his way out of the bathroom. "There's no storage here, except for the stuff the hospital staff uses, and I don't want cool food to become warm and go bad."

"No, you can go ahead down there. If I do fall asleep, just set them somewhere near my bed." She slowly sat on the bed. "Again, I just want non-refrigerated stuff. Please."

"What if I do bring you back something that may need to be put in a bag or some other packaging?"

"You can ask the staff for that."

"Never thought about that. I'll keep that in mind." Andrew made his way to the door and laid a hand on the knob. "I'll be right back. I won't be gone for long."

"Alright. Thank you, Andrew!"

Grace kept watching him as he left the room, leaving her by herself. She sat further back in her bed, leaning against the pillow and staring out the window. Sighing, she took her one eye away from the outside and blinked, looking down at her lap.

Grace took the phone sitting on the table next to her, wanting to call someone, and she picked it up, but before she dialed a number, she proceeded to stare at it. Her mind soon went blank as she continued to look down at it.

As soon as she remembered the person she was going to call, she quickly typed in the numbers. Grace eventually set the phone up to her ear and listened as it began to ring.

She reached her hand over to the side of the bed and pulled on the lever, messing with it until Grace was laying down at a more comfortable level. She turned on her side--phone still up to her ear--and placed her other arm underneath her pillow, resting her head on it.

The phone soon stopped ringing as a woman's voice answered, asking who was calling. Grace cleared her throat, preparing to reply to her.

"Elizabeth, it's Grace," she told the woman. "I remember I asked if you could watch my cat for me, because I took her with me yesterday morning, but I didn't want to risk it this morning. How is Iris doing?"

"Grace? Oh, it's nice to talk to you!" Elizabeth was surprised to hear Grace's voice. "Iris is doing just fine. As I was watching her, she mostly kept hanging around me. Is she known to be clingy?"

"She is clingy...all the time. That's nothing new to hear about her."

"Now, I don't mean to get in your business, but weren't you supposed to be back here after six AM? You've been gone for a long time, and I don't know if something is wrong."

"I was supposed to be home after six, but...I ran into a problem with an animatronic."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I was attacked once again, but before you panic, I don't think this injury was as serious as the other I have when I first got attacked by Nightmare Freddy. This may sound graphic to you, but I happened to see me having my eye getting pulled out. Nightmare Foxy got his hands on me and thought it'd be fun to leave me with one working eye. When this occurred, I was bleeding, but not as bad as my other injury when I got that."

"Your...eye was pulled right out?"

"Yes, and the doctors couldn't do anything about it, so they just had to glue my eyelids shut, which probably looks all swollen or whatever. I am alive, though, and I can still see, so you don't need to worry about that."

"But what about work? Will our boss still let you do things around the dinner with your eye problem?"

"Elizabeth, I only lost one eye; as I said, I can still see." Grace paused for a moment. "Besides, if I was blind in both eyes, he may either let me go, or he may let me continue to work with more simple things to do around the diner. I know Fredbear's is a bit crowded, which may make it difficult for a blind employee, but if there was a job they could do with them away from people, our boss would have put me in that spot."

"And if he did let you go, I heard that he's nice enough to refer people like you to other job opportunities that would be blind- friendly. I don't know if that's true, but it's what I heard." Elizabeth sighed into the phone. "You're not completely blind then? I heard that some people have blurry vision when they look out of only one eye."

"I'm thankful that the eye I can see out of now is my good eye. I think my other one had more issues." Grace fell silent again. "Elizabeth, I hate to bring this up, but after what happened at the diner--with Matthew getting killed there--I...don't think I'm going to continue working there."

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, I just don't want to be working somewhere where I'm reminded of a death of someone I was close to. Also, the lack of security that practically caused Mathew to be murdered makes me feel sort of unsafe there. I love how the other employees and our boss are nice and friendly, but I don't think that every single thing there is...perfect. Hate to say it, Elizabeth--I know we are all like family at the diner, but I'm thinking about what's best for me. I may just be done with the whole Fazbear Entertainment company, because of all the other rumors I hear about deaths and stuff at the other locations; I need to move to something else. Sorry for what I said there. Let's...move on."

"I understand. Hate to see you go, though." Elizabeth hesitated for what seemed like a long time. "So, are you in the hospital?"

"Right now, yes, but the doctors aren't expecting me to stay too long. They want me to be here today and a bit of tomorrow. Now, if you ever see me at work, I may or may not be covered in bandages. Of course I am right now, but...I'm just warning you."

"I won't be bothered by it. What kind of bandages are you wearing?"

"Just those kinds that wrap around injuries or whatever else you're putting them over. I have multiple layers wrapped across half of my face, and I can feel the tightness from them, but I have to wear them for now."

"Weren't you also bandaged up when you got attacked the first time?"

"Of course I was." Grace laughed. "I don't have any bandages over them, since it's now safe to leave them uncovered, but they are still healing; the same thing goes with my injury near my foot. In terms of clothing, I've been wearing more loose shirts over where my abdominal sores are, and I've also been avoiding socks for my other injury."

"I'd still get those covered, if I were you. They may be better, but like you mentioned, they still need to heal. And I guess wearing loose clothes is fine if you're leaving your sores uncovered, but make sure your shirts are clean for sure. Also, are you...wearing anything underneath your shirts over your...you know?"

"My what?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Grace sat up in the bed. "Oh, you're wondering if I'm wearing any...bras? I don't know about those. It's probably best if I stay away from those for a bit. I've been going without them lately anyways, but I've also been wearing tape...just to at least be more appropriate."

"Yeah, in my opinion, you're better off still covering up your breasts. I mean, if you don't, not only are you doing something that I--personally--am not comfortable doing, but you may also...get some guys looking at you. I'm just saying that to let you know, Grace."

"No, I understand, but I don't want to get deep into that sort of conversation." Grace adjusted herself in the hospital bed until she felt comfortable. "Anyways, I was just seeing how things were going there. I should be back home by tomorrow."

"Well, if you want to leave earlier, can't you legally sign yourself out?"

"I did that last time, which sounds crazy that I stayed almost three days for being stabbed, but I'm sticking with what the staff is suggesting for me this time."

"Hey, hate to interrupt, but I need to feed Iris real quick. You said before that she eats three times a day, right?"

"Right. She eats mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and whenever I'm about to go to bed. Don't worry about her too much, though, because Andrew will be back home soon to keep an eye on her."

"Alright. Well, I'll leave you be, Grace, since I don't want to keep you. Get well soon."

"Thanks, Elizabeth."

She soon hung up the phone and began to feel tears run down from her one eye. Grace covered her face with her hand over her eye, trying to hide how she was feeling. She eventually took her hand off her face and set it in her lap, also using her other hand to put the phone back on the table.

Grace didn't know how to feel about her conversation with Elizabeth. Leaving Fredbear's and having zero contact with the entire company seemed to be the best choice for her, but she overall had mixed feelings about her decision.


	62. Chapter 62

Michael sighed as he sat in the prison yard that morning. He kept staring off into the distance through the fence that was set up by the prison. Shaking his head, he took his eyes off the scenery from the outside and sighed, looking down at the ground.

"You're a liar, Father!" he whispered to himself. "You're a fucking liar!"

He proceeded to stare at the ground as another prisoner suddenly came up to him, sitting on the bench next to him. The prisoner, who happened to be his new friend, placed a hand on Michael's back, which grabbed his attention right away.

"You okay, man?" he asked Michael. "You've been acting so down all morning."

"It's nothing much, Jaxon," Michael replied. "Just...my father is a huge liar!"

"I heard what you were in for. The other guys were talking about it."

"Yeah, and lots of them hate me for the whole thing I did. I already got beat up twice, and I haven't been here that long! You're like the only person who is actually understanding of me."

"That's because I was almost in the same situation as you," Jaxon said, taking his hand off Michael. "I committed a crime against a child, too, but like you, I feel lots of regret for what I've done. You know what I'm being held on trial for? I killed my own cousin, Michael--my cousin! He and I had lots of problems between us, and one day after taking lots of pills, I lashed out at him and took a knife against his body as I was visiting him. After I did that, I just stared down at him and began to cry--noticing my mistake--as he started to slowly bleed to death. I called for an ambulance, but he was already gone. I was suspected for his death, and what do you know...look where I am now!"

"Your situation is definitely far different than mine. Personally, I'm not the pill popping kind of guy, but without those substances, I still had a fucked up mindset when it came to the relationship with my brother. You look like you're that guy from those urban or crime movies who does drugs, have sex with girls you pick up, and play with weapons."

"You're right about...all of those things, actually. I did enjoy playing with the weapons I owned, consuming some pills, and picking up some chicks off the street. Guess I'm a living urban or crime movie character, right?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Just in my case, I refused to do so much bad stuff when it came to weapons, pills, or girls; well, scratch what I just said, because I did attempt to cheat on my ex-girlfriend with another woman who was...a complete psycho, but I felt terrible for that attempt. My ex never deserved me to treat her the way I did, but now, she's running around with this...older guy. I wouldn't be surprised if they are dating, because I'm sure lots of bitches like her go off with another guy after a breakup."

"Sounds like you still have a bit of douchebag left in you. Hate to confess that to you."

"Shut up, Jaxon."

"Well, I'm just saying that your ex may be seeking some true love that you should've given to her all that time you were dating her. Most girls are smart enough to detect a toxic relationship and move onto a better one." Jaxon chuckled at him. "I know it's funny I'm saying this when I mostly picked up random girls, but it's the truth, man. Your ex is probably fed up with your bullshit and is seeking a better guy who would treat her better."

"She was upset at me a lot during our relationship. I know that one time, she kept obsessing about these animatronics going around this town and kept complaining to me about how I wasn't there to help her when she was attacked."

"And a true boyfriend would help his girl out in dangerous situations like that. These animatronics are real, and you were letting your ex be at risk of dying? Terrible move there, man."

"Well, whatever. We're not dating anymore." Michael buried his face in his hands. "But I'm sorry, Jaxon, that I seem so stressed out. I keep thinking about my father."

"There's a rumor going around this prison that your father built the animatronics. Is that all true?"

Michael focused back on Jaxon. "It is. My ex called me not too long ago and said that for herself. I'm just shocked that my father would be hiding the animatronics from our family all this time."

"I wanted to mention, too, that because of your father, the news of the animatronics have spread all across this state and other states near us. These incidents are so close to gaining national attention."

"I hope the news spreads nationally. The more people that know about who built these monsters, the more that would be up to finding my father. The bastard deserves much more punishment than me; I've only caused one death, and he caused like...hundreds to thousands."

"You also know what is rumored about these animatronics? One of them can actually communicate like us!"

"I heard about that, but I think it's true. Forgot which animatronic is was, though."

"I believe that was Freddy."

Michael nodded his head. "I think that was the same animatronic that attacked my ex. Yes, it was Freddy who got his hands on my girl and almost killed her."

"I've heard, too, that he has been going after girls more than men." Jaxon shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure what his goal is, but it's rumored that he would bully and harass his female victims and not kill them off right away."

"My father probably wanted one of the animatronics to act differently towards people than the others and chose Freddy as that very animatronic. Besides, I never heard of him going after women more. What do you mean by the fact that he...harasses them?"

"I'm not sure exactly what he does, but I wouldn't be surprised if he just happens to go up to a girl and gets his hands on her. I wouldn't say that he goes as far as...you know...or maybe he does go that far. Well, I never thought I'd be talking about an animatronic laying his hands on girls in...a way, but if he does truly do this to them, it's just a thing your father made him do as a way to torment women."

"You saying that he harasses them in that kind of...certain way, if you know what I'm talking about?"

"As weird as it sounds, that is probably what he does. To make it more weird, I've heard Freddy has been doing this to...way younger girls."

"What the fuck? How young are we talking?"

"I don't know. 14 years old, I guess? I heard on the news about this young teenage girl who told her experience with seeing Freddy in her house. She claimed that before the incident, she lived with her father after both her parents got divorced. That one night--which was about four days ago--when she was asleep, she heard a strange noise coming from her father's bedroom. She woke up as she heard it and ran to his room, only to see him brutally murdered and laying in his bed with blood all over his body. 

"She soon ran back to her room, forcing her dog to go hide with her, and called the cops. After calling them, the girl heard someone aggressively knocking at her locked door, so she quietly moved herself and her dog over to her closet to hide out there. Her door was soon knocked down, and she closed her dog's mouth to keep him from barking, as he supposedly acted like a guard dog and barked at any signs of danger."

"Hate to cut you off here, but what's this girl's name? Do you know?"

"I think her name was Zariah, if I remember right." Jaxon cleared his throat. "Anyways, Zariah kept hiding out in her closet with...what I think was a golden retriever dog her family had. She soon heard footsteps enter her room, followed by some deep growls, and she found herself crying, but she never wanted to make any sound. The thing that was making those noises was Nightmare Freddy, who was in her own room. After some time, he suddenly opened the door to her closet, seeing her attempting to hide behind a pile of clothes, and pulled her right out. Zariah's dog started barking and tried to get Freddy to let go of her, but he pushed the dog out of the way."

"So, what did Freddy do to her?"

"Well, after Zariah was pulled out of the closet, Nightmare Freddy locked her dog in the closet and started holding Zariah against her will. He began to get his hands on her, and when she tired to fight back, he got more aggressive with her; he also started to bully her and say vulgar things about her, and he threatened to kill her if she kept fighting back. She was in trouble anyways, because even after she thought she was better off letting Freddy harass her, he stabbed her and left her to bleed. Luckily, Zariah's injury wasn't too severe for her to be killed."

"That's...messed up. Freddy will actually do that to his female victims?"

"Yes, and it's his way to torment them and put them in distress. I guess he likes seeing girls freaking out."

"Does he do that for teenagers and adults only?"

"Just those people, yes. When it comes to girls that are much younger, he torments them a different way by hiding underneath their bed and scaring them with his friends around."

Michael sighed. "It's crazy that my father would make one of his animatronics do that to women. I know I may have been a jerk to my ex, but it's pretty pathetic that Freddy would cause terror against girls like that, and I wouldn't have liked it if my ex was harassed by a...damn robot. Sounds very strange, but it seems to be something I'd be angry about at the same time."

* * *

Grace found herself waking up in the hospital room--with no one in the room beside her--rolling over on her back and looking up the clock. Rubbing her one eye, she noticed that it was almost two in the morning. Panicking as she saw the time, she quickly reached for the phone next to her and started to dial Andrew's number.

"Pick up, Andrew!" she whispered, the phone up to her ear. "Please!"

The phone continued to ring as she impatiently waited for him to pick up. Grace placed a hand on her head, feeling the stress and anxiety build up inside her. Blinking her eye quickly a few times, she rubbed it roughly again and stood up from the hospital bed as she kept the phone in her hand. 

Still waiting for an answer, Grace stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, fixing the bandages on her head with her other hand. The layers happened to fold back over her ear as she was laying down in the bed, and she used her hand to tuck them back behind.

A man eventually spoke through the speaker of the phone. "Yeah? Who is this?" 

"Andrew!" Grace exclaimed. "It's me!"

"Grace? What's going on? You need something?"

"Well, it's two in the morning. I know Nightmare Fredbear is active, and I wanted to see if you were back with the officers to go after him."

"I'm actually getting a break tonight, but Sofia, Ethan, Elijah, and Ryan are all together with one team of officers. Don't fret about calling them, because I've been talking to them myself, and last I heard, they're all chasing Fredbear down right now."

"You're getting a break? How come? I mean, I know my reason is legitimate, but you just need a mental break or something?"

"Yes, I need a 'mental break.' I'm still upset thinking about Mila, and--I never told you this--I heard that...the body of my father was found. Matthew was definitely right about him being killed."

"Really? Where was his body found?"

"The cops went back to Matthew's house and searched the entire area, only to find my father's body hidden in the ground not too far from the house. The cops dug him up and took his body to a funeral director."

"Sorry that you had to hear that. Do you know how they were able to find it?"

"They used some detector device thing to find him."

"Sadly, my parents' bodies haven't been found yet. If you want me to, I can attend your father's funeral with you after it's scheduled and everything. What about my friends and parents...and even Matthew? I know my parents wanted their own funeral before they died, but going to multiple ceremonies in a short amount of time may be too much for me. Maybe it's best if I just go to your father's and my parents' funerals. I'll still respect the deaths of the other people I lost, but...too many ceremonies will just stress me out too much."

"Understandable." Andrew sighed. "I already called my mother to tell her about my father's body being found, and she was just as devastated as the time I told her that he was supposedly dead. I also mentioned to her that we wouldn't host a funeral for him until all of this animatronic nonsense is over, but whenever it is all over, she's planning on taking time off work and coming back into town for a week. Well, this will also be the chance for you to meet her. She's a nice woman--trust me."

"You don't need to tell me that about her. You know, most kids' behavior comes from their parents, and after how well you treated me and helped me out when I needed it, I automatically began to think of how good your parents had to be."

"I appreciate that. My mother and father raised me to not only be a well-behaved boy, but they also taught me how to properly treat a girl."

"Well, they did an amazing job. Even though we're friends, you at least take care of me, unlike a certain...douchebag."

"Grace, I don't want you stressed out. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Right. That sounds fine to me."

Andrew paused before speaking. "There is one thing I want to talk about regarding the animatronics and the public's reaction to them."

"And what about the people of this town? I know a lot of them are scared for their lives, but what else about them?"

"Well, they're more than just scared, Grace. Tonight before midnight hit, I was about to join Sofia and the rest, but I decided to head back home and let Elizabeth go to her own house for the night. I happened to find some newspaper in my mailbox I forgot to grab this morning when the mail came, and I found a story about how some people are demanding that Fazbear Entertainment--the entire company--should shut down completely, but others are saying that none of all the crazy incidents going on through FE will happen if certain things are done to prevent them, which will make the restaurants safer. I also passed by where you worked, and Fredbear's Family Diner has been vandalized, because people are pissed off about the Nightmares being made, but I'm not sure if the other locations are in the same condition."

"My workplace has been vandalized? How?"

"It was dark out, but I was able to see that the diner had words painted over the walls, the front door looked like it was broken as if someone threw a brick or something through the glass, and the sign to the diner was also pulled down somehow. I also read in the paper--this was something I couldn't see--that the animatronics inside were torn apart. Cops were surrounding and checking out the entire place."

"Damn. People are really fed up with the company. What did the words on the diner say?"

"'Shut down Fazbear Entertainment!' 'Get rid of these Nightmares!' There were more vulgar stuff like, 'Fuck this company!'"

"I wouldn't be surprised. I'm frustrated with the company, too."

"And it's not just the company that some of the people are mad at, but they're angry with the authorities, too. I watched a news story earlier when this reporter was talking to the cameraman about how some people were standing in crowds outside a police station. One random woman came up behind the reporter and started yelling at the camera, ranting about how terrible the police were in this town. She was saying stuff like, 'You all do a terrible job! You're letting these fucking monsters kill people off, and you're not even responding to get them right away! Fuck this town! Fuck its police officers!' The animatronics have been murdering people for two--probably three--weeks now, so I kind of see where she was getting at, but also, the animatronics are a lot tougher and stealthy than most people think."

"I can't believe people are going this crazy. I mean, I do understand they're terrified, but I personally wouldn't cause chaos."

"I think some people really want to show how they feel."

"Yeah, but it's...ridiculous that they would cause all this craziness. Look, I don't know about all of that. I'm just not the violence kind of girl."

"I am not too crazy about violence either." He sighed once again into the phone. "Anyways, I hate to end the call here, but I need to see how the group is doing. I'll talk to you soon."

"That's okay. I'll speak to you soon, too. I'll probably get some sleep while I'm at it."

Grace eventually ended the call, and right at the same time she placed the phone back on the table and sat on the bed, a nurse walked in, peeking her head around the corner. She asked how Grace was doing, which Grace only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Still adjusting to my only working eye," she told the nurse. "It's not bad, though, because although I have a chance of seeing things better with two eyes, I'm not completely blind or anything."

"Well, we did run some tests on you before when you were unconscious," the nurse said, sitting in a chair next to her. "I'm happy to say that you are good to go in terms of your MRI scan. Since your eye is connected right to your brain through the optic nerve, having that gouged out never caused any life-threatening or other serious problems, thankfully. If it was much more serious...who knows what we would've done to put you in better condition. Does your head happen to hurt? I never asked you that."

"A little bit, but it doesn't hurt enough that it'll stress me out. It's been on and off, too."

"We will give you some special treatments if it continues. We won't give you over-the-counter stuff if you had an entire eye ripped out!"

"I was about to say--that wouldn't help."

The nurse laughed and pulled out a small flashlight, shining in Grace's eye. "Alright. I'm just seeing how your other eye is doing."

"I'm guessing that I'm going to be given an eye test sometime, right?"

"You are right about that." The nurse paused as she soon instructed Grace to move her eye pupil around, which she did what she was told. "I'd say that we'll let our eye expert take care of you, but if you want a second opinion, you could always visit a different eye specialist."

"I was talking with my friend earlier," Grace added as she was instructed to do other things with her eye. "He said that depending on how my vision really is, I probably wouldn't be able to drive for a while."

"That's true. If your vision in your one eye is extremely clear, I'd say that you would be given a very short break from driving, so maybe a week or less minimum. If your vision is blurry, we'll have to let you be assigned special contacts, and you may legally be given a longer break."

"Just contacts? Oh, I see. No point of wearing glasses if I only have one functional eye." Grace smiled and covered her mouth with her hand. "I realized that just now."

The nurse took the flashlight away from Grace's eye, setting it down on the table, and started to put on some gloves. "If you don't mind, I actually got approval from your doctor to take these bandages off and look at where you had your eye pulled out."

"What for?"

"Just to check for any signs of infection."

"Alright."

"Try to stay as still as possible when I take these off, Grace." The nurse began to unwrap the bandages carefully. "And I'll open your one eye back up temporarily to see how it's looking."

"I just wanted to ask about my eye being...'paralyzed.' Is this permanent?"

"The stuff we injected into your eye is temporary, but before you leave this hospital, we'll give you something permanent. No point in letting your eye have the ability to move if it's glued shut."

"Well, something I did want to ask is if I can actually get a glass eye or something, but also, if I'm worried that a fake eye would make things uncomfortable, I can just keep my eye shut forever. Yeah, maybe my choice I mentioned to you earlier of keeping my eye closed will be better for me."

"Lots of patients do feel discomfort after getting a glass eye implanted, but the feeling of their new eye soon disappears after a while. It's your choice, though."

"If I get a fake eye, that will cost more money, but it may make me look 'normal.' I could be going without an additional eye in public and probably be looked at like I'm some freak to people--well, I don't think I'd be viewed as a freak, actually, and whether I get a new eye or not, I'll still be seeing out of one eye. I think I'll be going without an extra eye. Not only will it save a bit of money, but...who cares what people think when they see me?"

"Are you sure you're going with that decision? Remember, the stuff we'll use to prevent your eye muscles from moving us permanent. If you get a glass eye, we'll let your eye muscles be and let you blink and all that with your new eye."

"Yes, I'm going with it. Besides, I don't see the point of paying extra if I'm still going to be able to see through one eye."

The nurse used a liquid--that Grace couldn't tell what it was--on a paper towel and wiped it across Grace's eye. "Sounds fair enough."

Grace continued to sit still as the nurse threw the paper towel away, also injecting something above Grace's eyelids, and eventually began to slowly open up her eye. 

Grace noticed the emptiness in her eye as she kept looking in the mirror. "It's so weird not seeing my eye in there. Holy shit."

"Try not to blink, okay?" The nurse began to closely examine the inside of where Grace's eyeball originally was. "Don't want debris getting in there."

"Couldn't dust particles get in there? My friend was mentioning that to me."

"Yes, but I'm trying to be as quick and thorough as possible."

Grace waited as the nurse kept looking at her eye. She noticed her using a flashlight to look inside, and the nurse smiled at her after almost a minute of checking.

"Good news! Everything looks clear!" She stood up from the chair and placed the flashlight on the table. "No infections. No signs of anything else that appears abnormal."

"Really? Can I have the doctor check it out? Sorry. I...am that person who'd like a second opinion."

"Of course, Grace." The nurse instructed her to close her eye. "Keep it shut, and I'll be right back."

Grace pressed her hand against her eye, keeping it closed. "Alright."

She watched as the nurse took off her gloves, throwing them away, and quickly walked out of the room. Grace continued to keep her hand against her closed eye and stared back into the mirror, sighing.

"Well, I made my decision, but I'll be like this the rest of my life. Thanks a ton, Foxy. Thanks a lot, too...William."


	63. Chapter 63

"Hey, it's me," a voice whispered, causing Grace to slowly open her eye. 

She rubbed it as she sat up in the hospital bed, exhausted and drowsy from the effects of the injections she was given. "Who...are you?"

"It's Sofia." 

"Sofia?" Grace looked up and noticed her friend standing in front of the foot of the bed. "What are you doing here? Just wanted to visit me or something?"

"Well, yes, but there's something I need to tell you." Sofia looked up at the clock and then back at Grace. "Since it's way past six AM, my group, who is all going after Nightmare Fredbear, is done for today."

"What do you need to tell me? Is it about Fredbear?"

"Yeah." Sofia grabbed a chair from the far side of the room and pulled it up next to the bed, eventually sitting in it. "I can tell you that we...sort of got Fredbear."

"What do you mean by 'sort of?' You did try to get him, right?"

"We did, yes. The officers took out more explosives against him, and while we did not entirely destroy him, he did happen to lose an arm. Tried hunting him down after he ran off from that, but we never found him."

"It's good that you at least took his arm off. He can't try to attack you all as much with only one arm."

"I was thinking, too, that early tomorrow morning may be our chance to get him for sure. Didn't know if you wanted to check out early before midnight and join us."

"If I check out, it'll have to be really early. I still am required to get an eye test done here."

"How early do you think that would be?"

"Maybe...10 pm, or earlier than that? Besides, Sofia, I know it seems ridiculous I only stayed in the hospital for about three days after being stabbed by Nightmare Freddy, but it seems reasonable if I stay a bit longer from my eye injury."

Sofia laughed. "You think that's ridiculous? Grace, your injuries from Freddy aren't as bad as you think they are. Yeah, you were stitched up, but it's not like you were in super critical condition."

"I was in a stable enough condition to be discharged anyways after those three days, but the staff at the hospital needed to make sure I was properly being cared for; huh, maybe it's good I did move in with Andrew."

"And this issue you have now is just an eye injury, Grace. I can tell you that you were in worse shape when you were stabbed, versus having your eye pulled out. If you want to request to leave early, you can."

"Both injuries could've killed me either way, Sofia; you don't get that. Also, even though I was physically active a lot for being operated on my stomach, I didn't really run into any problems, and my only limitation was to avoid putting anything over my sores that would irritate them. My only limitation to my eye problem, for now, is driving. Because it's far different seeing with only one eye and not two, driving is something I'll have to stay away from until I adjust to this only working eye I have. Just...close one of your eyes for a moment, Sofia. See how one side is completely black. If I drive soon enough, I'll have to be extra alert on what I'm doing. You know, I don't have another eye that would be helpful to use if I need to look somewhere while on the road. I don't have another 'corner' of my eyes to use if someone is--I don't know--trying to cut me off in a lane? Don't think it'll be easy at first."

"I see what you're talking about." Sofia had one of her eyes closed and started to glance around the room. "I already can tell what it's like. Seems like I can't see some stuff in the corner of my eyes so easily without my other one being open; I have to turn my head a lot just to see it."

"Well, close your eye tighter, and then you'll definitely see what I'm dealing with. You didn't even have it closed all the way."

Sofia did what she was told. "Oh, now that's different."

"Yeah, now you see what I have to deal with the rest of my life."

"Wasn't there a nurse that gave you a decision on whether you want a fake eye or not? I was talking to one of them earlier before coming into your room here, and they brought up the topic of implanting a glass eye, but they also mentioned that it was up to you."

"One of them did, but I don't see why I would pay extra for a fake eye when I'd still see out of only one. A glass eye may make me look 'normal' to people, but I'd rather keep one eye permanently shut for the rest of my life. Honestly, why should I pay more money for something fake that won't do shit?"

"Maybe if technology was more advanced, you'd somehow get your vision back in your other eye?"

Grace laughed at her. "That's impossible. I doubt that even if technology was way better, there is still no way I'd be able to see in my other eye again."

"Look, I didn't know whether that was possible or not." Sofia sighed. "So, anyways, you want to join us tomorrow morning to finish off Nightmare Fredbear for good?"

"I don't know, Sofia. With everything going on, I may just need a 'mental break' like Andrew. Also, I already found out where the officers are holding Nightmare Freddy, and I planned on visiting him soon, so I do want to worry about that as well."

"Wait, why do you want to visit him again?"

"Because I'd like to have a nice chat with him in person. I'd also enjoy seeing him being destroyed after our 'friendly' conversation, and when that happens, all of this will be over for sure."

"Are you required to go to that place by yourself, or can you bring someone along?"

"The officers don't really care, but they prefer if I go there by myself. I think that they shouldn't worry, because I can trust my friends to keep a secret. Now, Andrew was planning on coming with me, but after everything happening in his life, he bailed out."

"How about...I come with? You can trust me, too, right?"

Grace hesitated. "I'm going to be honest with you, Sofia; all these days you've been acting crazy, I...I don't know if I can trust you, since this is government territory I'm visiting. I haven't been hanging out with you that long, and I know Andrew is another new friend, but I trust him enough after everything he's literally done for me."

"Grace, people don't have to be mentally unstable to be untrustworthy. People have to have true integrity to let others trust them, whether they're crazy or not. I do not see what mental stability has to do with someone's personality traits, because a person could be crazy like me and actually hold onto secrets that someone else trusts them to keep. Just because mental illness patients have their problems doesn't mean you can't trust them because of those issues. I see personality and mental stability being two separate things, and each person acts differently from those two things. Like I said, someone could be more insane than I am and still hold onto integrity towards others."

Grace only remained silent. 

"Listen, I don't want to fight with you, but can't you trust me this one time? I remember you trusted me to help get rid of these Nightmares, and I've tried as many methods as possible on my team--even if it was risky--and look where we are now; we only have one animatronic left. Grace--" Sofia blinked a few times, trying to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. "--when my group was chasing down Nightmare Chica that one night, there was a time when I actually went face-to-face with her. The officers in my group kept warning me to stay back, but I was trying to get her all by myself. I could've died if she had the opportunity to attack me."

"Really? What's...that got to do with anything?"

"I've told you before, once we met, that I'd fight these animatronics by myself if I had the chance...and I happened to. I said something that I promised myself to do, you gained my trust, and I did it. Can you do me a favor and return that by having me come with you? I promise I'll keep this governmental place a secret."

"Well, I did trust you before to help us with the animatronics, but what you wanted to do for yourself sounded too dangerous. As insane as you were, I was looking out for you; even if don't know the person, I can't handle hearing about the dangerous things someone would do to themselves. Look, I know I was also judging you from that one method you suggested to lure the animatronics, but as a rude I may have sounded, I wanted to keep you away from the Nightmares. You didn't have to go against an animatronic to prove how helpful and courageous you would be."

"I knew what I did was too risky, and I'm still trying to avoid being reckless, as I always was in the past." Sofia wiped her tears away. "But anyways, if both of us are willing to do things for each other, I'm sure we can each trust one another, right?"

Grace slowly nodded her head. "Yeah. You could come with me if you want."

"Cool." Sofia stood up from the chair and began to hug Grace. "Thank you. Uh...so where is this place that Freddy is at?"

Grace signaled her to lean in closer, in order to tell her without anyone else hearing. "I've been told that it's in Nebraska somewhere. If we want to go there, it's better if we fly there for a quicker trip."

Sofia backed away from Grace. "Oh, it's that far? When were you planning on going?"

"Right after we get Nightmare Fredbear out of the way. After he's done for good, I'll call the airport and get a flight reserved for us. Whether we get a trip booked right away or not, just be prepared to travel when we have the chance. When we are in Nebraska, we may not be able to fly back right away, so we'll have to stay for a bit. Hey, we could do things in the town we're closest to until there's an available spot for flying back home."

"Sounds like fun." Sofia walked over to the door leading out of the room. "I'm going to get myself a drink. Decide for yourself if you want to leave before midnight tomorrow or not, but preferably, it'll be great if you're with us to see Nightmare Fredbear being blown up. Your choice."

* * *

Michael kept looking back as a police officer pushed him multiple times. He angrily sighed at the officer as he proceeded to walk with the cop following right behind him.

"If you stop pushing me, I'd be happy and let myself walk without your hands on me!" he exclaimed.

"If you'd actually walk, I wouldn't be pushing you forward!" the officer argued back. "Just...sit down now! Someone you know wanted to talk to you, so do as I say! You don't want me to force you to do something, do you?"

Michael, with his hands in handcuffs, slowly sat down and refused to say anything. He glanced up and noticed an older looking man sitting in front of him. He never saw him before in his life, and from the intimidating look the man had on his face, Michael felt fear from keeping his eyes on him.

"Who are you?" Michael asked, breaking the short silence between the two. 

The man sat forward and placed his arms on the table, folding his hands together. "The name is Derek Adams, and I am the boss and manager of Fredbear's Family Diner. I have heard that you've been causing a lot of trouble for the diner. Is that true, young man?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sorry."

"Yes, you do know what I'm talking about. The diner is temporarily closed, thanks to you. I happened to find a footage of you--taken from our security cameras--killing this young child by the name of Matthew. I will be glad to give this to the officer standing next to you."

"You have proof that Mr. Afton here was at fault for Matthew's death?" the cop asked Derek.

"I do. I have it right here." The boss took out a film he had in his pocket and handed it to the officer. "I didn't know how else to print it out, but I used my own personal video camera to record what the security camera caught as I played it back."

The cop smiled at him. "This will be helpful to us. Thank you."

Derek stared back at Michael, who appeared more afraid than before. "As for you, young man, if we open the diner back up, and you're released from prison afterwards, you'll be banned from all the restaurants belonging to Fazbear Entertainment. You've caused enough problems that just from one incident, you are not allowed into any of the locations. I've contacted the CEO of Fazbear Entertainment, and he knows already what you've done. If you're seeking a job at any of the locations or just want to visit them, good luck, because he told all of the managers about you."

"Who cares?" Michael rolled his eyes. "I hate the stupid restaurants anyways."

"Well, not only have you caused problems for the overall diner, but you've caused some problems with one of our employees. Does the name 'Grace' sound familiar to you?"

"Yes. I had a girlfriend with that name. Why?"

"Mr. Afton, I work both professionally and casually. While I do typical things a boss would do, I also make sure my employees are comfortable working without any issues. If something is wrong with them, though, I have a private one-on-one conversation with them and find out what's wrong. Your ex-girlfriend has been coming to me a lot, and she was mentioning all the things you've done to her to stress her out. Have you been treating her poorly?"

"Not at all. I tried to commit to our relationship, but she never accepted any of that."

"Really? If Grace never accepted that commitment, then how come she suffered lots of stress and panic attacks during work? Obviously, you were doing something to her that caused her to be that way. No one falls into that state for no reason."

"Maybe she wanted attention. I have no idea where you're getting with this, but I tried my best to make our relationship work."

"I don't think anyone who would crave attention like that would actually make their wellbeing plummet suddenly. Grace has been coming to work like she hasn't slept for weeks, and there was one time she almost passed out from all the stress she was feeling as she worked. There was even a moment where I heard her crying when she was in the break room by herself. You think that is her craving attention...when she was--literally--going downhill in terms of her health? Judging by your relationship with your little brother and what you've done to him in the diner, everything you tell me about you 'committing' to your relationship with Grace sounds sketchy. Mr. Afton, you were the one causing issues for her. Do not lie to me."

"Then why did she go to work if she was so stressed out? Sounds like she wanted attention to me."

"I told her that if she was feeling so emotional, she didn't have to come into work, but she always felt as if she needed to. Grace mostly hid how she feeling as she worked and only have a couple moments where she broke down. Someone who would truly be craving attention would have more breakdowns with little effort to make it seem realistic. Grace's were too real to be faked."

"I still don't get why she wanted to head into work."

"I don't know either, but there are people like Grace who feel that they have to do what's best, even if they're dealing with something that stresses them out and slows them down. Grace is a very professional and selfless girl, and she'd never do anything for attention. The way you tell me that she is just craving attention sounds like a flat out lie. Tell me: would someone wanting attention end up in the hospital and suffer from a seizure from how unstable their health is? Someone like that wouldn't actually risk their health, but Grace did."

"Well, even when she was in the hospital, she still wanted people to feel sorry for her. You can't deny the fact that she wanted people she was close with to visit her and say these comments to her. Have you ever been a hospital patient? Most people in the hospital wake up, and before you know it, they're showered with all these nice comments from their loved ones."

"I can't believe I'm hearing the ignorance coming out of your mouth right now, Mr. Afton. As I said, Grace would never let her health go down just for attention. Is her actually paying for her hospital visit 'attention' as well? I seriously cannot believe how much of an idiot you sound. I'm her boss, and I have known what is all good or bad about her. Manipulative assholes like you don't have the right to say such bullshit about someone you were willing to commit a relationship to! One of the reasons she's so worked up easily is because of how you treated her! I do not allow anyone who is close to my employees to do such things!"

"Wasn't the other reason because of these animatronics she was obsessed about?"

"Those animatronics happened to be real, if you haven't heard about that yet." Derek sighed, growing impatient with Michael. "You going to tell me that everything she dealt with them was all for attention, too? I saw her one injury, and it obviously was too authentic to be faked. She kept telling me that a dog attacked her, but the holes near her feet were too big in that case; there is, without a doubt, that she was attacked by an animatronic. The next day or so after that happened, I heard she was in the hospital from another attack in her upper abdomen. Now, I just got news from another fellow employee of mine that she's back in the hospital, once again, from her eye being pulled out by an animatronic. They're real, Michael, and Grace is also mentally struggling because of those animatronics. I've seen her come into work with a breathing tube and blood pressure monitor at one point after her hospital stay, and that was right after she suffered blood loss and some oxygen problems from being attacked. Are you going to blame her for getting attention for that, too?"

Michael remained silent.

"Now, I hate to sound so bossy here--no pun intended--but everything I'm saying here is correct, and everything that I'm hearing from you are all lies. I know that you've caused lots of problems regarding your relationships with people; you and Matthew clearly had some problems, you and Grace had a toxic relationship that was all because of you, and I know you had some issues with your father, too. I also found out that your father was responsible for the creation of these animatronics, who were all designed to murder innocent people. Let me ask you: does murder run in your family? If your father was so motivated to kill people off, you clearly had motivation to kill your little brother."

"It...was an accident, okay?" Michael raised his voice. "Plus, my friends were on this, too! They agreed to do this to Matthew!"

"So you do admit to killing Matthew. According to the video that the camera captured, you were the one who threw up Matthew into Fredbear's mouth. I looked closely at the footage multiple times, and it seems as if your friends let go as you tossed Matthew up there. They may have been on this, too, but they never actually caused the murder."

"I knew the bastards turned on me! They pretended to still be my friend at the time, and lately, one of them has been siding with my delusional ex! I don't know about the other two, but...the damn jerks!"

"You just called a girl who hasn't really done anything to you 'delusional.' I can clearly see how much of a boyfriend you were to her."

"Look, shut the fuck up, man." Michael looked up at the officer. "I just want to go back to my cell. Can I get some time away from this asshole?"

Derek only sighed at the insult he was given.

The cop rolled his eyes and pulled Michael up from the chair. "Fine."

The boss kept staring at him as he was taken away. "Remember, you're at fault for everything immoral you've done--Matthew's death and how you were behaving towards Grace! I definitely would love to hear how badly you're treated here, because honestly, you deserve it!"


	64. Chapter 64

Grace slowly walked up to Andrew's house the next night, eventually looking back at Sofia, who was sitting in her car and staring at Grace through the window. Remembering that she had to go back home to get something, Grace placed her hand on the door knob and focused back on the front door, soon walking into the living room area.

Andrew noticed her coming through the door into his house, and he stood up from the couch, smiling at her. Grace spotted the grin he had on his face, but she never found herself returning the same expression towards him. She sighed as she leaned back against the closed door.

"I heard you were coming back, so I left the door open for you," he told her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'd say that I'm okay, but I'm not. I already found out what it's like just riding in a car and looking around outside with only one eye. I can tell that I definitely need to withdraw from driving for a bit." Grace moved herself away from the door and sat down on one of the couches, petting Iris as the cat jumped up on the furniture. "I had a quick eye test at the hospital, and while I did get results saying that my vision was clear, I'd still like to get a second opinion. Do you think that by late morning the next day, or later, you can drive me into town for that?"

"Well, of course." Andrew crossed his arms. "I would be glad to do anything for you. Besides, I don't work tomorrow."

"Thanks, Andrew." Grace finally felt herself smiling, though she was shy about it. "Anyways, Sofia is waiting for me outside. I told her I would come back here to get something real quick."

"What do you need to get?"

She began to walk into the kitchen. "I just need something quick to eat. I also mentioned that I'll be happy to get her something if she needed to eat, too, but she refused. Well...if you want to come with us, we're meeting back at her house where the officers will pick us up. You want to come, or do you still need a break?"

He watched as she pulled out a cookie from a box. "I think I still need a break, and I believe that you deserve to take one, too, but if you really want to go out there to get Nightmare Fredbear, I won't bother you to stay here. Also, someone needs to watch Iris, since she's still not safe being alone."

"That's fine." Grace set the box back in the pantry and closed the door, holding on to her treat in her hand. "And look, I may have had an eye ripped out, but I can still see. More than likely, if I happened to be completely blind, it would make sense for me to stay here."

Andrew kept looking at her as she walked closer to him. "You sure you don't want to stay?"

"I'm sure." She took a bite out of her chocolate cookie and hugged Andrew with one arm. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"I hope so. I don't want to hear you returning to the hospital from another attack."

She took her arm off him. "We will all make sure that none of us are attacked. The officers will be there to protect us in case anything happens."

"They better protect you. I'm...tired of hearing you being attacked multiple times; it really is stressing me out."

"Andrew--" Grace shook her head at him. "--there is only one animatronic left, and I'm sure that we will all destroy him with none of us being attacked. Please, calm down. I promise I'll be okay."

"Alright then." Andrew started to fix Grace's bandages, as some layers were coming undone. "Well, although I'm worried about your safety, I...wish you luck out there."

"Don't worry. Seriously." She patted his shoulder and walked over towards the door. "I'll see you soon, Andrew. I'm hoping that before six AM, all the animatronics would be officially cleared out of this town...although we still have Nightmare Freddy being held halfway across the country."

"Yeah...good luck." 

Grace took one last look at him before opening the door and walking outside, slowly closing it behind her. She quickly rushed out to Sofia's car, and once she reached it, she laid a hand on the handle and opened the door, hearing it squeak as she entered the soft-top convertible.

"Hey, just from seeing your car now, it looks very clean and nice," Grace told her, shutting the door. "Sorry. I know you drove me here in this car, but I never paid attention to what it actually looked like."

"It's a Triumph Spitfire," she replied, turning on the engine. "The manufacturer stopped making these badass looking cars a few years ago, unfortunately, but...it's cool my parents bought this in London during their wedding anniversary and had it transferred over here not too long afterwards. My mom used it for a bit, but she gave it to me after she bought a newer car."

"This is from England? Nice!"

"Yes, it is. Kind of has that 'British look' to it, too." Sofia began to drive the car away from Andrew's house. "I don't know if this car is customized, because last I knew, most of the models had no top over them, but this one does...and look at this--"

Grace watched as both windows of the Spitfire began to roll down. She eventually reached her hand up to the roof and put her hand onto what appeared to be a square shaped hole, soon revealing an open top version of her car as she used her hand to pull it down. The breeze from the outside hit Grace's face, and she kept moving her hair out of the way. 

"Yeah, I think it's customized," Sofia commented, putting her one hand back on the steering wheel. "I do not think all Spitfire models have this."

"Andrew's Corvette is also customized," Grace said. "His does not have what your car has, with the top of it, but he at least has a custom interior."

"Well, my Spitfire's interior isn't custom made--which I wish it was--but with the financial state I'm in right now, I don't have the money to have the inside done."

"What are you doing with your money right now? I'm guessing with you being out of college classes for the summer, you have student loans to worry about, right?"

"Of course, but I also have to pay for my house, the important stuff that comes with my house--water, electricity, that shit--and...these other things."

"You live by yourself? I don't want to sound invasive here, but I thought you wouldn't be able to be on your own because of your mental health."

"I do live on my own, but back before starting college at 19 years old, my parents got me this personal mental health...caregiver--I think that is what their title is, I don't know--who was assigned to check on me every day whenever I'd be home. Since I was psychotic at the time, I absolutely hated her whenever she would come over to see me, and I would often be mean to her. She was a patient woman, though, because she tolerated my behavior."

"What if you had to leave home?"

"That was something I hated the most. I would have to call her to let her know where I was going, and I would have to wait for her until she came to my house. I'd have to drive everywhere with her, just in case I would sneak off somewhere that would put me in danger or something. My parents were paying her for watching me, but they later let go of her after I promised them I would change myself. Back by myself in my house."

Grace silently turned away from her and leaned an elbow on the side of the car. "Be careful with how fast you're going. I don't want these bandages flying off."

"I can just roll up the top if that will be a problem."

"No, leave it down. The breeze feels nice." Grace placed her hands over her bandages. "I'll hang on to them if I feel they're about to come off."

"You should be fine if the doctors tightly wrapped you up. I don't see why you should worry."

"I know, but still--" Grace kept checking if her bandages were in place. "--I just don't want them coming undone by any chance. I'm not allowed to take them off for a couple of days."

"May I ask why?"

"Whoever was my doctor told me that I need to leave them on temporarily to prevent any irritation while my eye is still healing from what happened. Not only is the inside of it healing, but the outside is a bit, too."

"Makes sense to me. Your body is obviously going to adjust to you not having an eye in there, and having an optic nerve snapped is going to cause some changes. With it being connected to your brain, and with that nerve no longer in contact with that part of your body, you are going to be healing in a way from that result, as your body wasn't meant to originally function without any eyes. You said the outside of your eye is healing, too? I wonder if having your eyeball pulled out led to some other forms of irritation on the outside."

"Yeah, I wonder that, too." Grace sighed as she kept looking around the outside of the car. "Like you mentioned, because of what happened to me, my body will adjust to it, but I need to adjust to it as well. There is a chance I won't be able to drive for a certain amount of time, but it's also not like I can't drive at all from my problem, since I still have my vision. The only thing is that my vision is actually a bit limited, as I really can't see everything out of the corner of my eye, so I'll have to be extra careful when I do get behind the wheel."

"I tested that out earlier when we were still in the hospital. I agree with what you said about your vision being limited."

"I mean, it's not the worst thing that could happen to me, but being completely blind would absolutely devastate me. I know that I've been attacked three times now by two different animatronics, but for the physical state I'm currently in, I think I'm doing pretty well."

* * *

Grace later walked up to a SWAT vehicle parked in front of Sofia's home. A couple officers quickly exited the van as they saw her and Sofia both looking up at them, standing with their backs against the front door of the house. The two young ladies stepped forward a bit as a middle aged looking officer stood in front of his team, as well as in front of Grace and Sofia. He took off his mask and smiled at the girls.

"I heard from our other fellow officers that you two, followed by your friends, were great people to rely on to help catch these animatronics," he told them and offered his hand out, which Grace slowly shook. "I am Officer Sullivan. I was recommended by Murray to have you two girls, and maybe your other friends, help us. He said how much you all were a great team working with us."

Sofia crossed her arms and laughed. "Damn right."

"Well, he moved to our team--" Sullivan paused and looked back at one of the officers, but eventually laid his eyes back on the girls. "--but he is willing to help us get rid of the last animatronic."

"It's a bear we're after, Sullivan," Murray replied, holding his gun in one hand near the trigger and resting the top of it over his shoulder. "But technically, he is the last one here. We still have the other one that Alexander and the others are keeping back at the facility."

"Right. I forgot about him."

Murray sighed and took the weapon off his shoulder. "Alexander said that he's still going to be there until Grace visits him. After he is destroyed, all of the animatronics will be gone forever."

"Was Grace going to talk to him or something?"

"I thought I heard that she just wanted to chat with him, and after that, the officers back at the facility will take care of him."

"Yes, you're right." Grace smiled at Murray. "I was planning on flying with Sofia to Nebraska whenever there was an available flight at a great price. I mean, my one friend may be nice enough to pay for our flight even if it's expensive, but I prefer to save a bit of money."

Sofia looked over at her. "And we were just going to watch him be destroyed, stay a day or two at the nearest town, and fly back?"

"Right, and if we spend more than a day there, I'll make sure we stay somewhere cheap, but also not too cheap, if that makes any sense."

"Oh, of course. Very cheap, run down motels are not my thing."

Grace laughed. "I'll make sure we don't stay at any place like those."

Sullivan stared back at the girls, after he took a moment to glance at the other officers. "Listen, ladies--we have one more animatronic to go after tonight. It's about an hour until midnight, so are you bringing any other friends along?"

"Well, my one friend needs a break," Grace replied and turned towards Sofia. "You saw that I called the others earlier. Ryan is coming. Elijah is joining us. I think I heard that Ethan is getting a break as well."

"Ethan isn't coming? That's a shame." Sofia crossed her arms. "He and I have been growing so close to each other. I wonder why he backing off all of a sudden when he was so intrigued by catching these--fuck it. He may just need a break, too."

"Yeah, that's...what I'm also thinking." Grace shrugged her shoulders, frowning, and walked closer to Sullivan. "I know where these two friends of ours live. How about you drive us, please, and we'll get this last animatronic?"

"Sounds like a plan." Sullivan turned towards the officers another time. "Let's all head out and chase down this final animatronic!"

* * *

"He is the last animatronic that is in this town, right?" Ryan asked as he sat down in the seat next to Grace. "We got Bonnie destroyed, and then the officers supposedly got Chica. You weren't with us, but we got Foxy as well."

"Yes, it's only Nightmare Fredbear that's left," she told him. "Once we get him, you are all safe, as their creator is on the run, and no other animatronics--thankfully--are running around. Nightmare Freddy is still active, but he's far away, and I mean...far away."

"Based on how you made that sound, I'm guessing you're flying there?"

"Yeah, and I want to fly to the facility. The only problem is that Sofia and I will be buying tickets that will cost us at least 100 dollars minimum if we're lucky with that price."

"Andrew has money," Sofia added. "Like you said earlier, he may be nice enough to lend us some money."

"He may, or he'll have us pay." Grace crossed her arms. "Didn't you say that he was asking you for your bank information, and when you gave it to him, you called to check in your status the next day to discover that almost 15 thousand dollars was suddenly deposited into your account? Don't ask if you have more money already. He did that to help you out."

"He wanted to help you, too, with the same amount, but you refused."

"I have my own money to make. I trust him enough, but I don't need him to always help me out."

"But he mainly wanted to financially help you, since you lost your parents. Why did you turn down 15 grand, Grace?"

"Sofia...what did I say?"

"You said you don't always need him to help you out."

"I'm not greedy, alright? I'm not just going to take that money and run off with it, and if I did, I'd be thankful, but I don't want to be viewed as being desperate."

"Cut the bullshit, Grace. He's just being nice and doing you a favor; I mean, you lost your damn parents! I agree that you shouldn't be greedy and all this, but once in a while, you need some stuff from a friend. Andrew gave you an opportunity to give you lots of money. He told me that he has about 80 thousand sitting in his account right now, and a portion of that is enough to...get yourself a new car, for example. 

"You said you wanted to do things for yourself? Take the money, as I think you really need it, and you don't have to rely on him taking you everywhere. I understand you think of people first, but your selflessness in this case is--I hate to say it--just pathetic. You need it, Grace; I really think you need the money...especially after what happened. Without your parents around to help, and if you relied on yourself to do your own things, you still wouldn't be able to financially support yourself."

"And while I'm glad I met Andrew, I'm not taking the chance to use him for his money. I like him as a friend--although we haven't known each other that long--but I'm not going to be viewed as taking that opportunity. Sofia, I said I'll make my own money, so let me worry about my own life."

"Alright. Whatever you say." Sofia sighed and leaned back in her seat. 

Sullivan quickly turned the steering wheel as he drove onto another road. "Anyways, I communicated with some of the other officers earlier, and another team spotted Nightmare Fredbear near a children's home. Just wanted to say that before Fredbear was running around, a couple of them--on the same team--happened to save a 14-year-old girl who snuck outside of the same building, and when they did bring her to safety, they noticed a cast on her hand that covered up these big five holes in her arm. The officers chased Fredbear out of that area to keep the kids--who are staying there due to having no parents--safe, and they're keeping it heavily guarded to prevent any deaths."

"That girl had no parents?" Grace asked. "And she had holes in her body, too? Did those officers know who she was?"

"I don't really remember her full name, but I think it's...Zariah Larsson. Young, unemployed girl with divorced parents, but she's staying at the children's home due to her father's death and drug-addicted mother previously causing trouble in the family. That same day she came to the children's home, she woke up in the middle of the night and found her father brutally murdered by one of the animatronics. That animatronic who killed her father later went into her room and started to bully and harass her. After the animatronic left her to bleed after she was stabbed in her right arm by him, she let the blood run down her arm as she grabbed her dog and ran out to the car the family had. Since she came from a state where she could drive at her age, she quickly drove herself from home with her dog to safety."

"Damn. What animatronic was after her?"

"Freddy. I don't know if you watched the news, but she was interviewed about her experience, and she even showed her injury on camera."

"I haven't been paying attention to that stuff. Sorry."

"But yeah, she and her dog are safe, though Zariah is shaken up after what happened. Heard that she wasn't able to sleep for a couple days, until she started to force herself to use sleeping substances to get her to rest."

"I wasn't able to sleep either when I encountered Freddy. Gave me the same injury, but he stabbed me in my stomach."

"Well, I'm glad I brought her up, because there was something I needed to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Zariah heard about you through the newspaper and kept up on all the latest information you were giving out. I may sound like I'm lying here, but she mentioned you by name during her interview, and sometime, she'd like to meet you. You two are almost similar to each other--both living without parents, both attacked by the same animatronic, and...both got the same hair color."

"That's quite a similarity you just said there, but other than that, she does sound a lot like she's in the same situation as me. Did she say during her interview about what Freddy did to her?"

"I'm not giving all the details, but Zariah said he mostly strangled her with one hand and touched her in a couple places--you know what places--with his other. He kept saying all these rude and inappropriate things to her to stress her out. He manipulated her, too, telling her that he would hurt her more if she tried to scream for help, but even when she remained silent, he still stabbed her."

"I always heard he would go after girls, but I never thought he'd actually...use inappropriate methods to put someone in distress," Elijah commented, falling into silence.

"William made Nightmare Freddy do that as he was building him," Grace said. "I think Mr. Purple Guy didn't want to make all his animatronics act super vicious to every single person, so he programmed one of them to do something different. You see, Freddy wasn't acting like that towards me, unlike Zariah, because he already saw me as a threat with me around Matthew and wanted me dead, so he's not like this with every girl or woman he meets."

"Still a strange thing to let him do. I do not want to think about an animatronic who sounds like he's an older human being and does things to some women under 18. No thank you."

Without a moment's notice, Sullivan immediately hit the brake of the SWAT van, causing the others to nearly fall from their seats. Murray, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked over at him after the vehicle came to a stop.

"The hell is your problem?" the officer asked, annoyed. "What made you do that?"

"I saw Fredbear!" Sullivan exclaimed. "He's right over there in the group of trees! Do you see him? This is the same area where Nightmare Foxy was destroyed!"

Murray glanced outside the window to get a peek. "Oh...oh, I see him. Alright, let's go!"

Sullivan turned around in his seat. "Grace, Sofia, Ryan, and Elijah, you all stay in here! Let all of us take care of this animatronic!"

"I feel like we need to help you destroy him, though," Sofia told him. "We did help you track him down, but I believe we should--"

"Sofia, this kind of job is for us officers only. I appreciate you want to help, but this is a dangerous task. Just saying, you're more vulnerable to being attacked than we are, and you don't want to die, do you?"

Sofia only shrugged her shoulders and remained silent. 

Sullivan rushed out of the vehicle with the other officers as he kept his eyes on a pair of red and silver glowing eyes. Closing the door behind him, he quickly grabbed a couple grenades in his hands, gun being held over his upper body, and gripped them tightly in his hands. Sullivan lowered himself towards the ground, trying to stay out of sight, and quietly snuck behind a tree. He watched as his teammates followed him, copying his actions, and hid behind the same tree.

Grace leaned over the front seats and stared out the passenger window in fear, seeing the officers attempting tactical and sneaky methods to get themselves as close as possible to Nightmare Fredbear. Feeling her heart race, she started to carefully watch Sullivan throw the grenades towards the animatronic, but they all ran away as an explosion unexpectedly occurred where they were originally hiding out. Even the explosion was so close that the group staying in the vehicle felt the ground shake.

Appearing as if he was stressed out, Grace heard Sullivan demanding to the other officers a new plan to get Nightmare Fredbear. After a long moment of talking, two of them ran away from the team towards the animatronic's direction.

Sofia joined in on keeping an eye on all of them, watching and feeling tension as the battle became more challenging to the officers. The three that were left in the road eventually followed behind the two officers than ran off into the park area, explosives being held in their hands.

"What is going on?" Ryan stood up from his seat. "Are they working on Nightmare Fredbear?"

"They are, but they're struggling," Grace replied and looked down at the radio. "You know what? I know I may not be allowed to do this, but I think it will be worth it."

"What? What are you doing?" Sofia laid her eyes on her.

Grace picked up the radio sitting in the holder and soon spoke into it. "Hello, my name is Grace Thompson. I'm working with a team of these officers, and I think we may need some help down there. We're on the main road passing by the park on the south side of town. There is a courthouse nearby, if that will help any on where we are. Could use a few more officers, because our team is struggling."

Sofia shook her head. "I know you're not allowed to use the equipment, but for now, that will help us."

"Not only us, but it will help the officers, too. They really look like they need some backup."

The group in the van continued to watch as another explosion rang out near them. They felt it shake the vehicle, and all of them held onto the walls as it moved sideways.

Grace felt her heart beat even faster as more explosions, and even gunshots and the loud, angry voices of the officers, occurred near the van. As her breathing rate also sped up, she thought she was on the verge of fainting, but she tried her best to stay as calm as she could. The incidents caused her to nearly scream, and whenever there was silence, she kept going towards the front seats to see what was going on outside.

"Guys, I know we're in a situation like this now, but they'll get Fredbear...and this madness will be over! I know it!" She noticed Elijah nervously looking around the outside after another explosion went off, and she held him close. "We all just need to stay calm!"

The officers started to all crowd around what looked like a lifeless body of a figure in the park. One of them bent down on the ground and touched the body, seeing if the figure was still alive, but between all of its dismantled parts, it never moved.

She began to cry as she eventually noticed the officers walking back to their van and cheering outside the vehicle, hugging each other tightly. Guessing that they destroyed the last animatronic, she let go of Elijah and ran out of the back door, quickly moving herself towards them. 

"Is...is he gone?" she anxiously asked, dying to get an answer from them.

Sullivan, who was out of breath, nodded his head. "Fredbear...is gone. Took us some time to finally...get him after...a few attempts at this tough battle...without trying to risk ourselves...getting too close to him...but he's...he's gone for sure."

"So, aside of Nightmare Freddy, this is all over?"

He smiled. "It's all over, Grace. It's all over."


	65. Chapter 65

"Are you nervous, Grace?" Sofia asked, slowly walking next to Grace through the main lobby of the airport. "One week later after the 'death' of Nightmare Fredbear and here we are in Nebraska--visiting the actual last animatronic that is still active. He isn't so tough now that the officers limited ways that Freddy could use to attack them."

"Nervous?" Grace paused as a woman began to announce a different flight being delayed through the intercom. "I'm very, very angry with this bastard. You clearly don't understand the shit he put me through."

Sofia looked back and tugged on her small, yet heavy, luggage bag. "I heard he said not-so-nice things about you, tried to kill you and Matthew, and he also prompted his one friend to kill off your two best friends."

"The last bit is...kind of true, but instead, Nightmare Fredbear heard about Freddy being captured, which he found out I set his friend up, and that's what made him go crazy and kill Lauren and Amber. Technically, Freddy didn't actually tell him to murder them."

Sofia focused her eyes back forward as they made their way to the entrance of the airport. "Anyways, we've flown halfway, or more than that, across the country to go see Nightmare Freddy. Before we boarded the plane back at home, I called the officers at the facility and told them we may be there within several hours. Took us over 9 hours to fly here, but we wasted even more time waiting for our flight. Add almost an hour to that from leaving the plane and getting our luggage. Alexander was the guy I was talking to, and he said he's going to pick us up in his own car and drive us to the facility. He told me he's driving a black four-door sedan. You see anything?"

Grace hesitated as the ladies stepped outside, and she glanced around the front of the airport. "Not yet."

"You want me to ring him again?"

Grace never answered as she spotted a black vehicle drove in her sight, and the driver of the car honked as they drove closer to her and Sofia. The vehicle came to a stop, and the driver rolled down the passenger window.

"Grace, Sofia, it's me," a man in the driver's seat said to them. "It's Nicholas Alexander. Seems as if I came on time to pick you two up; I just guessed how long it would take to have you both wait for your flight, fly here, grab your stuff, and all that. I thought I'd drive you to go see you-know-who, since it's almost four in the morning, and you must be tired after that flight."

"Alexander, the animatronics were great at having me adjust to staying up past midnight," Grace replied, nervously laughing. "I was fine the entire time."

"Look, just throw your luggage in my trunk and step inside the back. Also, if you two haven't eaten yet, I'll be glad to get you something on the way to where we're going to get an early breakfast, or we could eat there; the facility also has some food if you prefer to save money. If we pick up something, I'll be glad to pay."

"I'm not that hungry." Grace opened up the trunk and lifted her bag up, placing it in the back. "Thanks anyways."

"You hungry?" Nicholas pointed at Sofia, who handed her bag to Grace. 

"I ate on the plane," Sofia told him. "I don't need anything."

"Alright, but that's perfect then. It's 3:34 right now, and Freddy is active for less than three hours. If you want some time to chat with him, you only have that amount of time."

"That's fine with me." Grace opened one of the back doors and climbed inside. "I prefer to have that much time to have a chat with him, as I don't want to talk to him for too long."

"And what is it you wanted to talk to him about?" Nicholas started up his car as he watched Sofia get inside. 

"Just...everything." Grace felt the car move after some time. "Everything he and his friends have done to me and my own loved ones."

"Just as a warning, Grace, we've tried to talk him out of believing that what the animatronics did to all those people was right. It wasn't, but that monster didn't think so. He's not easily convinced, and if you do try to tell him similar stuff, be prepared to hear the evil bullshit that comes from his mouth."

"I already know that. By the way, how's he doing...after all the torture you implemented on him?"

"He didn't have an arm that worked after we poured water over him, but we had a few technicians in our facility that helped fix his arm when he was 'asleep.' Judging by the movement of his arm, it's a lot more 'jerky' and dysfunctional, but the technicians tried their best to fix it. In other terms, though, he still doesn't have his teeth and claws, his one half broken ear had been entirely broken off now, and he has a few scratches on his body. He looks a bit like he's in worse shape than before."

"Good. Keep up the abuse on him. He deserves it in the meantime."

Alexander sighed as he stopped his car to pay an employee to leave the airport. "I still can't believe how human Freddy acts, and it sounds crazy that he definitely behaves more like a person than the others. You heard that incident with him and that Zariah Larsson girl? I read a copy of her story in the newspaper, and if you haven't heard about it, Zariah was a 14-year-old girl who was harassed by him in her own home. She said that Nightmare Freddy actually got close and personal with her as a way to torment her."

"I heard about it...and I don't want to think about it."

"Who is Zariah?" Sofia asked. "And what do you mean by 'getting close and personal'? Are you telling me that he--"

"Sofia!" Grace yelled, staring at her angrily.

"What?" 

"We don't need to be thinking about that now, okay?"

"I was just--"

"No! The thought of a damn animatronic, who talks as if he sounds like an older guy, getting personal with a girl, who is in middle school, is not something I want to think about! The whole thing he did was...strange and disturbing as hell!"

"Fine. I'll shut up." Sofia leaned back in her seat, not saying a word.

"It's my fault I brought it up," Nicholas told the girls. "I should have known that you two would be weirded out by it."

"Well, and as odd as it is, I overreacted." Grace felt as if she was going to cry, suddenly remembering the time she considered using the animatronics to kill off her ex. "I have dealt with so many messed up thoughts this week that I don't know how to think of how to react to anything. I have acted out so many times that I lost count. I'm sorry if I've been a mess so far to you both."

"You have a psychologist sitting right next to you." Sofia smiled at her. "You could talk to me now if something is on your mind."

"I prefer to be by myself for now. You and Nicholas chat, because for now, I do not want to talk."

Sofia noticed her beginning to cry, and she started to hug Grace. "Hey, after Nightmare Freddy is destroyed, all of this will be over. We're right on the edge of living peacefully without these animatronics disturbing us."

"I know." Grace forced herself to let go of Sofia. "I know we're close. Just...have my dead loved ones on my mind--Amber, Lauren, Matthew, my parents. What can I do without them? Matthew is someone I especially was close to like we were family, despite us not being related. At this point, as I plan on having a child later in my life, I'm thinking about naming my possible future son 'Matthew.' I know it sounds crazy, but I'm in that sort of mood now."

"It's not crazy; it sounds cool and appropriate, actually. You want that as a way to remember Matthew? You can go ahead. Let your future kid have that name."

Grace wiped her eye dry and closed it a few times to get rid of the tears. "Anyways, how far is the facility from here? Do we have a long drive?"

"It's not that far of a drive," Nicholas answered, turning on another road away from the airport. "Since it is government property, the building will be in a more isolated area. Judging from where we are now, I think we have about 30 minutes to drive."

"30 minutes? That ain't bad." Sofia nodded her head.

"When we get there, leave both of your stuff in my trunk. I'll let you two see Nightmare Freddy, we'll destroy him afterwards, and I will drive you to the nearest and cheapest hotel. I know a few places around this town that are around 35 to 40 dollars. I figured you two wouldn't want anything too cheap. What are you looking for?"

"That amount is fine." Sofia smiled at him. "I'm paying for the nights we stay here until we get a decently priced flight back home."

"Well, whatever hotel you pick, as I said, I'll drive you there. This is Omaha, and it's quite a big city, so you have lots of options."

"Thanks for the offer. And when we get to the facility, is there a phone I could use there? I want to get a room booked for us."

"We'll let you use the phone there. I believe we have one near the main entrance."

"Sounds good."

Grace stared out the window in silence as Nicholas continued to drive them. She leaned her elbow on the door, resting her head on her hand. She resisted the urge to break down again as the thoughts of everyone she loved, who were murdered, came back into her mind. Trying to think of something else right away, she never felt herself needing to cry.

Sofia easily noticed the look on her face. "Hey, I'm here to talk if you need someone. I know how ashamed you must feel right now, but there's no need to hide what you're thinking."

"I don't know, Sofia." Grace sighed, not looking back at her.

"Look, there is something about you that I've been suspecting, and I wanted to mention it to you. Now, I do not think all the emotions you're dealing with is because of your sleep deprivation; just from learning your behavior lately, I think you're dealing with a form of an adjustment disorder. Don't worry, because it's an illness that does not last a long time."

"I have no idea what that is."

"I'd give you a long description, but I'll keep it short." Sofia paused. "Well, it's a temporary illness that is caused by stressful life events. People with this have lots of problems coping with whatever is making them feel overwhelmed or stressed out, and I mean...lots of problems. Just wondering--you have any other disorders?"

"I suspected myself to have ADHD, but if I did have it, I don't think I've been struggling with that at all lately; it's like I've been 'coming out' of it."

"I'm in that 'coming out of it' phase, too, with my mental disorder--or disorders. Some patients are just lucky enough to realize what's wrong with themselves, and they go to get help."

"But what else makes you think I have this 'adjustment disorder?'"

"I originally thought you would just have an anxiety disorder, but you've been showing more signs of an adjustment disorder. You've been emotional over the animatronics, your ex, the deaths of your loved ones, and the fact you had to move in with Andrew with hardly enough money to support yourself. Adjustment disorder patients only experience symptoms when changes happen to them, but anxiety disorder patients have continuous symptoms even after the changes take place. Thinking about it, I still don't believe you have an anxiety disorder."

"I don't know."

"Hey, if you just want a second opinion, you can always go see someone else."

Grace blinked a few times and kept looking outside the car, not saying anything to her. She heard Sofia sigh once, also mumbling some words to herself, but Grace never bothered to wonder to figure out what she heard.

Nicholas continued to drive on various roads, and Grace never paid attention to where he was going; she kept thinking about everything that has happened in her life that one week. She shook her head in response, and she tried her hardest not to cry another time.

The drive felt longer the more that Nicholas proceeded to drive them to the facility. Grace wasn't looking forward to seeing Nightmare Freddy, but she also had the need to talk to him about everything. She heard him talk to her in her mind, and Grace began to repeat his insults and rude comments as her mind began to race with them.

She started to feel her eye close as she continued to rest her head on her hand. Before she knew it, Grace suddenly found herself falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Grace, we're here!" Sofia whispered, shaking Grace's body. "The officers are waiting on you!"

Grace quickly opened her eye and looked around. "Shit! I'm sorry, Sofia! I didn't realize I fell asleep!"

Sofia stepped out of the car, soon walking over to open Grace's door, and helped pull her out. "Come on. Nicholas was granted access to this place, and the officers outside are waiting on us to follow him."

Exhausted, Grace stood up and watched Sofia close her door. "I should have slept on the plane. I don't know how long you all were waiting, but I didn't mean to keep you."

"Don't worry about it. Come on."

As the two ladies began to walk towards the entrance, Grace glanced around the outside of the facility. Behind her was a tall gate that closed off the front of the building from the outside. There were walls that were attached to the gate that blocked off the scenery on the other side. Grace felt as if she was entering a typical prison rather than some special government facility.

She eventually looked towards the front and noticed the building and the walls surrounding it were separated by a parking lot for the people who worked there, as all signs in front of the spaces were "reserved." Street lights lit up every part of the parking lot. Grace also spotted a sign in front of the facility, reading, "South Omaha Research Institute of Technology." Small lights attached to the bottom of the sign also lit it up, making it easy for Grace to read in the dark.

An officer, who was standing by the entrance with a gun in his hands, smiled at the girls. "You came with Officer Alexander, I am guessing? We hardly allow citizens to enter our facility, as we share deep secrets here about the things in today's technology. The things we study are things that impact everyone--everyone in this country--in their daily lives, but there are some other things we keep here that aren't doing such a good job. Most pieces of technology we have are also useful for the entire country in terms of war or another crisis."

"I won't bother you about those big things, but you did happen to get an animatronic brought here, right?" Grace asked. "He came from Rhode Island, where my friend and I are from, and we're here to chat with him. Alexander invited us to come here to talk to this animatronic."

"You're here to see Nightmare Freddy? You may still follow Alexander, but I'll direct you. That animatronic you're speaking of will be found on the second floor in our 'machine prison' area, where we place any dysfunctional and dangerous machines in rooms similar to prison cells to protect the safety of the other officers. We rarely ever use the room, but it's a relief that we are now. Freddy will be in the second one on your right. There are elevators in the main room to get you there."

"Alright. Thanks."

Grace and Sofia walked through the entrance and closed the door behind them. They both looked around at the inside of the building, seeing a big, spread out room that was considered the main "lobby." A few officers sitting at a table in the room stared at Grace and Sofia, two of them smiling at them.

"You better not be flirting with me!" Sofia pointed at one of the smiling officers. "I know that face when I see it! I mean, I know I'm attractive, but I am--in fact--seeing someone."

The officer frowned and shrugged his shoulders, looking away from her.

Nicholas, who was standing by one of the elevators, walked up to them. "Follow me. Nightmare Freddy is up a level."

"Yeah, sorry. We were distracted by these officers." Grace sighed, sneaking a look at the group of federal cops.

"Seems like someone was hitting on me, no doubt," Sofia mumbled to her. "Guys are crazier than I thought."

"Shut up, Sofia." Grace rolled her eyes. "Not every guy is that crazy."

As the three were right in front of the elevator, Nicholas pressed the button to go up to another level. The door soon opened quickly, and all of them stepped inside.

Grace felt her heart speed up as the elevator lifted them off the first floor and to the second level. As much as she wanted to show him who was boss, she also feared seeing Nightmare Freddy. She kept thinking about the different things he did to her that caused her to have so much anxiety.

The elevator stopped, and the door automatically opened, revealing a huge hallway of nothing but places where some certain machines were held. From Grace's sight, about 10 doors leading to different rooms filled the hallway. Some rooms had glass windows, but others appeared to have missing windows, as if whatever was inside was not meant to be seen. 

Nicholas stepped into the dimly lit hallway, then Sofia, and then Grace. He led the two young ladies to a door that was the second on their right side, which didn't have a glass window. Nicholas took out a key from his pocket and started to unlock the door.

"I know you can't see him now, but he's in there, and the room he's in is pretty huge," he told them, playing with the door knob. "We put him in a room without a window, just so we didn't have to look at his ugly, evil self. He was in a different room with a window, but we moved him."

Grace nervously laughed. "Nice. I'd do that, too, personally. I also hate looking at him, just after everything he's done."

"He's alone in there right now." Nicholas finally unlocked the door. "Which one of you wants to go in, or do you both want to see him? I'll call for a few officers to guard the outside of the room, but you two should be fine; he's acting pretty worn down and 'tired' after what we've done to him."

"I'll go in with Sofia," Grace answered and turned towards Sofia. "Let's go in."

Nicholas soon closed the door behind them and locked it, leaving them alone. He walked away and started talking into what was most likely a radio, as Sofia and Grace heard him call for more officers.

Grace spotted Nightmare Freddy standing in a corner facing towards them, but he was staring at the ground with his eyes halfway closed. He kept blinking as he proceeded to not look at the two ladies.

"Hey!" Sofia stood in front of him and snapped her fingers. "We're here to chat with you! Can you not see us right now? Oh, you're probably just blind or something; I wouldn't be surprised if you are. Did the officers make you that way? Fun to know that."

Grace watched Sofia getting a bit closer to him, but she stayed back away from Freddy on the other side of the room.

"Grace, don't be afraid. He's obviously being a dumbass and not responding to me." Sofia eventually placed her face in front of his, raising her voice. "Am I right? You're probably deaf, too! Man, you're such a retarded animatronic!"

"How can an animatronic even be deaf or blind?"

"I don't know, but Freddy is clearly acting like he's one or both of those things."

Eventually, Nightmare Freddy's head jumped up, causing the girls to back up in shock. He angrily stared at them, softly growling, and never took his eyes off them.

Grace crossed her arms. "Well, it's...not so nice seeing you again. You do know that you bullying me never actually made me feel like I'm nothing. Try harder next time, because you obviously did a fucking terrible job."

He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them back up, still not saying a word.

"Are you going to talk, or are you just going to stand there like the idiotic, worthless machine you are? I mean, I'm not wrong about what I just called you. I am definitely in far better shape than you are. Face it, you damn monster; you are losing this battle between us."

One of Nightmare Freddy's arms twitched as a spark was emitted from it, and his head jerked as well at the same time. Sighing from his malfunctions, he slowly opened his mouth.

Grace continued to stand in place, waiting for him to answer.

He finally found the right words to say to her and Sofia. "You have come to visit me? It is not so nice seeing your pathetic face either, Grace. Who is your friend?"


	66. Chapter 66

Grace hesitated as she kept staring at Nightmare Freddy in fear. "I thought you would have figured out her name, since you somehow found out what my name was."

Nightmare Freddy, who was trying to break free from his arms being tied up, angrily sighed at her. "Sometimes, I cannot figure out things for myself. I was able to find out what your name was from stalking some of your loved ones who mentioned you by name."

"You stalked those who I was close to?"

"It was something I enjoyed doing. I not only killed people, but there were some other stuff I had fun with."

"Like harassing women and young girls?"

He laughed. "I see you found out one of my favorite ways to put some humans in distress. I heard that women like you are so fragile and weak; that made me have that desire to joke around and torment them without killing them."

"It's still wrong either way--what you did. There was one girl I heard, by the name of Zariah, who was harassed by you. You really were doing inappropriate things as a way to freak her out? Freddy, that girl was in middle school! She is only 14! While it is wrong for you to harass women, it's just more messed up for you to do things to girls that young!"

"And you are going to cry about it like a damn child?" 

"You bet I am! I don't care what you think in your evil, entitled mind; you have absolutely no right to do those things, let alone murdering people! No right, Freddy!"

"Fun fact, you asshole--" Sofia added, crossing her arms. "--I'm a psycho myself, and I always had a desire to kill people. Did I? Of course not. I can tell you, though, that during my mentally unstable days, I was still far more sane than you. You are just the perfect example of someone who's a complete demon. You are at the top of the evilness scale, friend, and you will always be that way; that's fine, since we already know that you're extremely entitled and a disgrace to us. The real thing here is that people are definitely far better than you and your now 'dead' friends; you think that is false, but you'll never get that through to your head."

Nightmare Freddy ignored her comment and laid his eyes on Grace. "What is this I see? Did someone get another injury? How sad."

Grace felt her face getting red from frustration and impatience. "Foxy got me in my eye, and while it does hurt, it doesn't bother me. I'm over it."

He chuckled at her. "Bet you were crying when it happened."

"Actually, no." She kept frowning at him. "Stop avoiding the subject. Sofia was telling you something."

"Yeah, I do not have the time to listen to a human woman...and with that, I should not be listening to you either. Girls are delusional, and I also think your little psychotic friend here fits that description just perfectly."

"Someone who is evil making fun of other evil people," Sofia mumbled. "That's what a demon would definitely do."

"So, if I tell you about this Zariah girl, you wouldn't want to listen to me?" Grace looked at Sofia, laughing, and then turned back towards Nightmare Freddy. "You...harassed a 14-year-old! You wouldn't want to hear me talk about how wrong that is? Like Sofia said, you will never understand how bad that is! You need to listen to us, because now, we are the bosses!"

His head twitched again. "Whatever you say. I would just hear lies coming from both your mouths."

Grace stared back at Sofia, lowering her voice. "Don't feed his pathetic ego. Keep it calm, but fight back."

Sofia focused her eyes back on Nightmare Freddy. "You really harassed a young girl? You liked being inappropriate with women? Aside of the torment part, did you think that getting your hands on them was fun?"

"That's called sexual harassment, Freddy." Grace stood against a wall. "Ever heard of that term?"

"Still strange for an animatronic to do that sort of thing to a person." Sofia smirked at Grace. "I don't know what else to say about it; it's just...weird."

"Weird and...ridiculous, but it is also so wrong."

Nightmare Freddy grew impatient with them. "You two think that what I have done is wrong, but to me, it was right. I am the one who is doing what is best, and I know what I am talking about, whereas you two delusional girls are speaking such nonsense to me."

"Nonsense, huh?" Sofia laughed at him. "I am studying to be a certified professional in the psychology field, and last I heard from different studies made by other professionals, mental illnesses are obviously a problem. The guy who built you and your friends definitely has something wrong with him; he's sick in his head, and the goals he created to kill people who are more sane than him...are stuff that really signals that something is up with him. The sane ones who know that murder is wrong are actually right. I just find it funny you're calling us 'delusional' when we know about common sense more than you do, and we also have a lot of that, although you don't."

"I do not need this 'common sense' stuff you are talking about to do things that I love. I have my own beliefs; I do think what I believe in is correct, and whatever I say is always precise. You two have your own beliefs, but I find them to be completely ridiculous...and I do not mean that in a good way. Your cretinous beliefs make you both seem so ignorant and delusional; I almost do not feel sorry for you."

"Cretinous? The hell kind of word is that?" Sofia shook her head at him. "Stop trying to act like you're so intelligent with your choice of words. You were already stupid enough to fall for Grace's trap that got you captured."

"And because I got you captured, my friends were able to get your animatronic friends destroyed," Grace added. "Your creator is being chased by federal officers, and your precious friends are all gone. You are the only animatronic remaining, and you better be grateful that I let you live just so I could talk to you."

Nightmare Freddy growled at the girls. "My friends are not gone! You are both speaking such lies to me!"

"It's true, sweetie. I'm sorry." Sofia shrugged her shoulders. "We had to do what was best."

"This is...this is your fault!" His head glitched out and twitched again. "You both are crazy for doing this! I was enjoying killing you people with my friends, and you just had to stop the fun! Everything is all ruined because of you, and you should feel ashamed of yourselves! You humans are a fucking disgrace!"

"Feel ashamed for helping people out?" She laughed. "Shut the hell up with that nonsense. You're losing this battle between us real easily, and I'm finding that quite hilarious. Makes me think how strong you believe you are, when in reality, you're actually not. Admit it, honey: you're not as tough as you think you are. If there's someone in this room who should be feeling ashamed of their actions, it's clearly you."

"She's not lying." Grace smiled at Sofia, and she eventually focused back on Nightmare Freddy.

He began to growl angrily as he attempted to break free again from being tied up. Nightmare Freddy collapsed on the ground, lying on his back, after trying and soon gave up.

"You can't escape," Grace told him. "You're useless enough, and worthless machines like you deserve this sort of treatment."

Sofia walked over to him and bent down on her knees, staring down at him. "Poor you. It's funny to see you being treated in such a way by these officers."

Nightmare Freddy turned his head away from her.

"Hey, look at me." She placed both of her hands on his head, turning it towards her, and leaned her face closer to his. "You never were going to win this battle in the first place. Like Grace said, you're just useless."

He kept staring at her as she let go of his head, not saying anything.

"Giving up yet? You better. You're just not talking to us."

"He probably doesn't feel like talking to us," Grace said, standing next to her. "Let this pathetic monster lay there for now. He needs to think about the trouble he and his friends have caused."

Sofia stood back up. "I don't know about you, but I'm temporarily leaving this room. I have no idea what's taking Nicholas so long."

"I'm coming with you then." Grace watched as Sofia walked away from her, and she started to follow her towards the door.

Growling once again at the girls, in his glitchy robotic voice, Nightmare Freddy suddenly broke free from the piece of rope tied around his arms. He got up on his feet and lunged at them, but as soon as Grace and Sofia turned around to see what was going on, he tackled Sofia to the ground and hovered over her, one hand on her chest holding her down. She screamed at him, but her voice was cut off by him beginning to strangle her around her neck. Unable to scream, Sofia coughed as Nightmare Freddy tightened his grip around her neck.

Meanwhile, Grace attempted to pull him off, but he kept pushing her back. With tears streaming down one side of her face, she ran towards the door and opened it, yelling outside for help. As she was in the hallway, she never saw any sign of Nicholas or other officers anywhere.

Infuriated with her, Nightmare Freddy let go of Sofia and grabbed Grace, causing her to scream in fear. He placed one hand over her mouth and pulled her back away from the door. Grace tried moving his hand off her, using both hands to lift it up, but Nightmare Freddy kept his hand pressed down on her face.

Coughing more after being strangled, Sofia eventually took her turn to help Grace by trying to take Nightmare Freddy off Grace. She laid both her arms around his neck, attempting to pull him off. The animatronic looked back at her in anger and pushed her down to the ground, which made her curse out loud in pain, soon doing the same to Grace with both of his hands. 

Out of breath and hurting from hitting the hard, cemented floor, Grace turned herself towards him and sat up on the ground, only to see him blocking the door to the hallway. Sofia stood up on her feet, also shocked by him trapping them inside.

"You can't be serious! We're trapped in a room...with no goddamn window! What were the officers thinking?" Sofia laid a hand on the back of her head and noticed a spot of blood on it as she took it off her head. "Shit! You made me...bleed, you..."

Grace watched in fear as Sofia began to hang onto the wall, her head leaning down towards the ground as she mumbled a few words. Grace ran over to her and placed her arms around her, right as she began to fall into Grace's arms. 

Grace looked back at Nightmare Freddy, who appeared to be smiling at her. She turned back towards Sofia and slowly lowered her to the ground. 

Grace eventually stood up and kept herself near Sofia. She angrily stared at Nightmare Freddy, who was still blocking the door.

"I don't care what you think of yourself as; you are a monster who thinks it's so funny to scare us." Grace felt herself shaking and nearly crying. "Well, let me tell you something--while you think murder is right, it's actually wrong, but you'll never get that, since you're so entitled to your own beliefs!"

Nightmare Freddy chuckled evilly at her. "I do not have to listen to you talk lies to me. You and your friend are the ones who should accept that what I do is fun, and there is no doubt that killing humans like you is wrong."

Grace remained silent.

He walked up to her and grabbed her by her arms. "Now that your friend appears as if she is on the edge of dying, I will be glad to put you in the same place."

She kept pulling back, trying to break free from his grip. "Just let me go!"

Nightmare Freddy laughed and leaned in closer. "Never will I release you. I have been wanting you dead all this time, and now, this will be the perfect moment for such a great thing to do."

Grace realized some tears were leaving her right eye. "You will regret this! As evil as you are, you will soon look back and see how much of a pathetic demon you were!"

"Is that so? I doubt that will ever happen."

She felt her heart beating faster as Nightmare Freddy started to wrap his hand around her neck, but before he could tighten his grip, a few officers bursted into the room, causing him to stare back at them.

Nicholas pointed a gun at him. "Let go of that young lady, Freddy!"

Nightmare Freddy followed Nicholas' order, but he soon ran towards all six officers. Before he could attack them, they all got ahold of him and tackled him to the ground, wrapping another piece of rope around his arms and then around his mouth.

Nicholas ran over to Grace, who was standing against a wall, trying to catch her breath. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, sure! I nearly got strangled by an animatronic! I am just doing great!" Grace frowned. "No, of course I'm not, because he could've killed me! I'm fed up with that question after something happens to me! Don't ask it again, okay?"

"Alright. No problem." He rushed over to Sofia. "She doesn't look so well. I'll take care of her, as she just appears like she only passed out, but you go ahead and tell my friends what you want to do with Nightmare Freddy. You did want us to keep him 'alive' so you can chat with him."

Grace turned towards the other officers. "You know what I want done to him? Destroy him! I want to watch this go down."

One of them nodded at her, and they all lifted Nightmare Freddy off the ground, beginning to lead him to another room. Another officer smiled at Grace as he started to walk her to where they were going.

She followed them into an elevator and laid her back against the wall, locking eyes with Nightmare Freddy. Behind his tied up mouth and arms, he narrowed his eyes at her, and she gave him an angry look back at him. The elevator soon beeped as it began to stop, and he turned his face away from her.

The officers started to walk Nightmare Freddy to a room on the fourth floor of the facility. The room was far bigger than the one he was kept in, and on the outside in the hallway was a glass window looking into the room. Four federal officers shoved him into the room, with an explosive attached to his back, and closed the door behind him.

"This is where we destroy all our machines," one of the officers explained to Grace. "This room is built with special materials to keep any explosions we set off from causing damage to the building. You'd think with explosions, too, that we need headphones--since they're loud--but the walls are very soundproof."

"That's nice," Grace replied, unsure what else to say.

"Here--" The officer handed a remote over to her. "You want to set off the bomb we placed on him?"

She slowly took it from him and stared down at it for a moment. "You know what? I'll be really glad to."

Looking down at the huge button, Grace carefully pressed it and soon laid her eyes on Nightmare Freddy. She jumped back as an explosion went off inside the room, causing a muffled sound and bright light from the inside. Grace covered her eyes, and the last of the explosion eventually faded away. She took her hand off and smiled in relief as she saw a dismantled Nightmare Freddy laying in the middle of the room.

"Alright, guys!" the officer exclaimed. "Get the body parts that separated and dispose them properly!"

"Now, the guy who made him is still on the run, but other than that--" Grace handed the remote back to the officer and fell on her knees. "--it's...it's all over. For sure! The nightmare...is over!"

He looked down at her and stood her off the ground. "It is over, Miss. Now, come on. Let's get Nicholas to take you and your friend somewhere to stay. I've heard all about you, and you really need a break for a couple days before you fly back home."

Grace took one last look at the officers as they picked up the different parts to Nightmare Freddy. She began to burst into tears, also smiling, as she turned her head back forward.

"The nightmare is over," she whispered to herself as quietly as she could. "Sleep well, everyone. Sleep well, Mother, Father, Lauren, Amber, and Matthew."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main part to the story is over, but I'll add on a few shorter parts called "The Aftermath," and it'll go as "Part 1," "Part 2," etc. So, while the book is over, it also isn't, if that makes sense.
> 
> Basically, the main events of the book are over, but I'll be also adding a few shorter parts of what Grace's life is like many years later after the animatronics are destroyed.


	67. The Aftermath (Part 1)

"**September 14th, 1994**

**Sometime in the afternoon**

_I don't know where to start._

_ It's been so long since I've written in this journal of mine; far as I remember, that was way back in 1983. The years have gone by so quickly. I still have my copy of the sketches I made of the animatronics that terrorized my life during the time, and looking back at them now, I still feel fearful staring at the drawings._

_ Back then, I was just a very young adult, but I'm now 29 years old, and life has been coming at me and slapping me in the face. I already feel like I'm growing up too quickly. Things were easy living with Andrew for a bit when I was 18, but things were also difficult, especially with coping after dealing with the animatronics. Even today, it feels like everything back then only happened yesterday._

_ A few years ago, Andrew sold his house we both lived in, and he is working in another Rhode Island town as a cop. He's been doing this job for about four years now and still loves it. Like me, he enjoys helping people out, even if it comes to a point where he has to practically save someone's life. _

_ With him living in that town, I hardly ever visit him in person, just because he's so busy with work, but while that's an issue, the drive there is long as well. We have been best friends since we met, and while you may think that we would hook up after living with each other for 4 years, he already dated a woman, named Sydney, that he later got married to about five weeks ago. She is a pretty laid back woman, and we keep in touch with each other whenever we both have the time to talk. _

_ I first met Sydney at their wedding I attended over in New York. Let me say, too, that she is way younger than he is--she's 28, whereas he's 37--but while I am personally not a fan of age gaps, I respected their relationship. I knew Andrew wasn't too interested in younger women either, but supposedly, Sydney was that "one special girl", as Andrew said, that never would marry him for his money._

_ She happens to be like my twin sister, since she has the same interests and stuff as me; that actually scares me a bit. I mean, she cares about people too much, she has had her own mental problems that led her into paranoia and insanity towards others, and she also falls outside the stereotypical young woman. Like I do, she would never marry a guy for his money, for example, and she would not care if she married someone who was poor or very rich._

_ Speaking of money, I was grateful Andrew handed some of his unused cash over to me to financially help me. Thanks to him, plus a new job I have after leaving Fredbear's Family Diner, I have a house of my own, but I also have several thousand sitting in my account. At first, I was hesitant about taking money that ran in his family, but with getting permission from Linda--his mother--I soon accepted his offer and took the money. Instead of just running off with it and not contacting him ever again, though, I still keep in touch with him. He is one of the few coolest guy friends I've ever had, without a doubt._

_ And while I'm living on my own, I do have a boyfriend that I recently got together with about a couple months ago. Before meeting this guy, I was thinking about asking Elijah out, since we still talk to each other, but I happened to run into a guy in my workplace who immigrated from Europe. Honestly, I was worried about dating someone from outside the US, but I knew I was just being paranoid and agreed to start hanging out with this Slovak guy._

_ His name is Viktor Markova, he's bilingual, he's 30 years old, and he is really new to Rhode Island and America overall. Once I met him as a customer in my office-set workplace, I saw that he had that look on his face like he appeared to be weirded out by my one working eye--again, I could be paranoid--but after some time of talking, he acted more chill, like that was no problem, and soon asked for my number._

_ I felt like I was in some movie when this happened, as it's like a lot of romance movies have some female character meeting a good-looking guy in their workplace, but this was real life, and...it happened. I also liked the guy, so that's that._

_ I never told Viktor the real reason by my missing eye; the only thing he knows is that it was ripped out. I'm glad he told me I was still beautiful with one eye, and actually meant it, because the last time I tried dating another guy, he told me that same thing and backstabbed me--why does that remind me of someone else?_

_ Viktor does know about my problem I had with the animatronics, however, but only in the instance of encountering them; he has seen my journal entries, with my permission, where I wrote about what happened when I came across them. He knows how my encounters with them affected me; I invited him to my house one time, and he saw my two medication bottles for my anxiety and PTSD sitting on the counter. I freaked out when he saw them and quickly put them away in the medicine cabinet._

_ That's when I heard him say, in his accent, 'You sure you just encountered them? Something had to happen to you that put you in this condition.'_

_ 'I'm...fine, Viktor,' I told him. 'Really, I am.'_

_ 'You don't seem fine. Did they do something to you?'_

_ 'I don't know what you mean. I just came across them, and they scared me to near death.'_

_ 'Yes, but just encountering them like that doesn't cause PTSD. I understand they may trigger anxiety, but...PTSD? I doubt it.'_

_ I sighed at him in response. 'Look, I don't want to argue. I am okay, and that's how I really, and truly, feel about myself.'_

_ After that, Viktor agreed to not start a fight with me and stopped bothering me about my medications._

_ We hung out for a long time as friends until we recently started dating. I can't really say much about him, other than the fact that he really looks out for me and doesn't want me to be hurt._

_ He's just a very sweet guy._

_ But my dating life has been a hassle for me on top of other things. As I mentioned before, the animatronics all haunt me to this day, and it's been putting me under a lot of stress. I have bad dreams about them, I keep hearing voices in my head from the animatronics that could talk, and I keep thinking about my dead loved ones that were killed by them. Because I am in so much stress, I've been nothing but an emotional wreck around Viktor this past month. He didn't know the real story behind me and the Nightmares, but after how I behaved with him around, he most likely knows that there is a lot more than me 'encountering' the animatronics...and I can't hide that anymore._

_ I do not know how to explain it to him, though. He had never heard of all Fazbear Entertainment locations until he moved to the US, and he had no idea what the Nightmares looked or acted like, except he only learned about them in my journal. Still, he never saw them in real life, and he never heard about these...killer robots roaming around a small town and murdering innocent people. The whole concept seemed strange to him the first time._

_ Enough about Viktor. I do still want to talk about the animatronics that William Afton built back in '83._

_ I continue to wonder what was William's goal behind making those animatronics. Okay, maybe his goal was to kill people for the fun of it--which is wrong--but I mean...why animatronics? If he really had to do his thing by killing citizens, why couldn't he go for something else? Whatever he was originally thinking about building back in the 70s, he shouldn't have constructed anything as a way to murder people who don't deserve the torture and pain._

_ The Nightmares honestly should have not been made at all. Obviously. They were basically William's 'helpers' for murdering almost everyone, while he went away to hide from the cops. The bastard has never been caught, from what I heard, and it's like the Nightmares were some...distraction or something, just so he can continue to do the immoral things he loved to do with the spotlight all on the animatronics. I mean, there was a point where William was forgotten about, and all the Nightmares were the main focus._

_ Yes, William did immoral things like what the animatronics did. The last news I heard about him was that he somehow hid his identity at the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant and murdered a few children. After the cops found the kids' bodies, William wasn't seen anywhere in or around the restaurant. But for those who witnessed him hanging out around the place before the incident happened, they claimed he was some guy wearing the color purple._

_ I'm not sure what else William may have done over the years, but I know that he hasn't been caught yet at all. The police have not had such luck finding him._

_ And while he is still being hunted down, the mayor of East Providence had a whole memorial built in the park downtown. It consists of a wall made with granite, and it has a list of all the names of people who were suspected to be killed by the animatronics, followed by who it was that killed them. I stopped by one time to see it and noticed my parents' names, Lauren's name, and Amber's name, and all of them had 'Nightmare Fredbear' listed next to each one of their names. Of course I never saw Matthew's name, but he was murdered by a different version of the same animatronic._

_ The wall is pretty huge, and some people actually took their time to count the number of suspected victims, which I heard that it all came down to 2,028 total. Also, to come to a conclusion, adult men and children were the most killed, aside of adult women, adolescent boys and girls, and the elderly._

_ The town occasionally holds a memorial service, too, for what happened in 1983. It typically goes for longer than an hour, and the person running the service--the mayor himself, usually--invites a couple local singers to sing certain songs. He Also, he lets people attending the service, who encountered a Nightmare or had a loved one killed by them, tell their experiences. As ridiculous as it sounds for these vicious animatronics to be out at night killing people, the memorial service takes the issue very seriously, and it really is an emotional event to go to. I went once--I was also surprised Sofia was one of the singers there at the time--and I can never go back without being reminded of the times I fought for my life and my loved one's lives._

_ At first, while these murders by the animatronics gained the attention of the entire state and those nearby it, it later gained national attention. The attention soon made this town get its own name for the murders in 1983, and the name is placed on the 'Welcome' sign when entering East Providence. I cannot remember the name, but I know there's a separate sign underneath the original 'Welcome' sign, which I believe says, 'In remembrance of the--' whatever the name was. After the town got the name, that's what it has been remembered as--the town that had killer animatronics. Not the best thing to remember a town for._

_ I have also been gaining a bit of attention myself around town. After all the animatronics were destroyed for sure, I lost track of how many times I found myself being in some sort of interview on TV, and I remember being only in one interview on the radio. Ever since some of the people around town heard about me, I've been isolating myself a bit more, as I was not comfortable with all the attention. Even now, I get recognized a few times a week, and I typically try to escape without talking to whoever that suddenly called my name out loud._

_ I'm in that stage where I appreciate being remembered as someone who helped the FBI's officers track down the animatronics, but also, all of that is over, and I don't want to be reminded of those bastards ever again. That's why I say when someone random on the street calls my name and mentions my bravery of going against the animatronics, I just walk away as quickly as I can._

_ I'm not entirely well-known, of course; I'm only well-known by a few notable people, and maybe some citizens, but that's it. Still, I can't bear the attention I get. Some of my friends are also in the same situation as I am._

_ I want to lay off the topic of the animatronics and talk about what my other friends have been up to. I'll make it short._

_ I know I talked about Andrew._

_ Sofia is married as well to Ethan, one of my ex's friends. She dealt with an accidental pregnancy at 24 way before their marriage, but she unfortunately lost the baby. Despite that unexpectedly happening to her, she stayed strong and continued her work as a certified psychologist. _

_ She also came out to me not too long ago as schizoaffective; that meant she was bipolar and schizophrenic at the same time. The term 'schizoaffective' also was a recent medical term that came into place; even she never understood what it meant when she first heard it. _

_ Elijah isn't doing a lot himself. He's the only friend I still have that doesn't have a partner right now. He tried getting with different girls, but nothing has been working out for him, which confuses me, because I know he is a good guy._

_ Also, he quit working at Fredbear's, because he felt unsafe working there like I was, and moved onto being a writer. He made an entire book on our experiences with the Nightmares, but the copies he made of it only made it to libraries in this town. He is not giving up, though, and he once told me that he will make more money when he gets into writing fictional books._

_ Ryan is currently in college and is studying in an arts academic. He has a partner that lives in a different apartment than he is near the university. Ryan called me a couple days ago and mentioned that he has to hide his relationship with his partner, since they're both guys, and he was self-conscious about what people would say. I felt sorry for him, and I told him that I wished I was there to help him out. He only hung up on me without saying anything._

_ I also started talking with Zariah a month after Nightmare Freddy was destroyed. I remember she was that young girl who was harassed by him, and when I told her he was gone, she was very relieved to hear that sort of news._

_ Right now, she is a stay-at-home mother with a three-month-old baby on her hands; plus, she's planning on taking college classes soon whenever she has the chance. Her boyfriend is working two jobs and is in college himself, and he's really trying to support the two of them. Zariah wanted to work, as she told me before, but she is just busy taking care of their baby. _

_ And what are my two best friends, Lauren and Amber, doing? Well, they're spending their time in heaven. They were unexpectedly taken away from their families, me, and their other friends, by that damn Fredbear animatronic, and there's not much I can do for them. _

_ They're just gone. That's it._

_ Some of my friends never mentioned their experiences with the animatronics to any of their new loved ones, like Zariah never said anything to her boyfriend about what happened when she was only 14 years old. She said to me before that she fears that Steven--her boyfriend--will either make fun of her or just not believe her. I think he's too calm and laid back to do such things to her. I mean, while the idea of an animatronic doing and saying inappropriate things to someone in middle school sounds unbelievable and weird, I think that Steven would be supporting enough if Zariah ever tells him._

_ I've been wondering what my ex, Michael, has been up to, but I haven't really heard from him in years. I'm actually glad that he's not calling me at all; I'm really enjoying the peace._

_ But more than likely, he's still serving his time in prison. That, or he was recently released. The average time in jail for a murder is around 10 years or so, but the time also varies on how severe the murder was._

_ I just wish he didn't have to kill his own brother. Michael always enjoyed bullying Matthew, but the poor child didn't even do anything to deserve it. Because of Michael being reckless and getting his brother into a deadly situation, I completely cut him out of my life. If he ever calls me again, I'll ignore him. If I run into him somewhere, I'll also ignore him and just walk away._

_ If we do get into contact with each other, he would do either one or two of the things: he would hear about me hanging around a guy and get angry with me--as if we were still dating, and he didn't want me around other men--or he would play the 'feel sorry for me' card if he apologizes to me about what he did to Matthew. Because what he did was obviously a horrible thing, I'd never forgive him._

_ To me, forgiving people varies on the severity of whatever the thing is that someone did. _

_ Insult me, but soon promise to be nicer? Fine, I will give you a second chance._

_ Murder your own sibling? Yeah, I'll just ignore you for the rest of my life. No point trying to get me to forgive you after that._

_ I now hear my phone ringing. Think it might be Viktor, since we were talking earlier, and he said he would call me back. I better stop writing and go answer it."_


	68. The Aftermath (Part 2)

"**September 21st, 1994**

**9:34 PM**

_Well, I had quite a busy week._

_ Viktor took me out a couple times to different fancy restaurants. The first time, he told me to dress nicely, but he never mentioned where we were going. He then picked me up from my house and suddenly blindfolded me after I got in the car with him, which I unexpectedly fell into a minor panic attack, but he told me to calm down and held onto my hand._

_ And what do you know--he eventually took the blindfold off me, and I noticed we were parked in front of one of the most expensive places to eat at in East Providence._

_ 'I will be paying for this,' he told me. 'Don't you fret about wasting your money. I know you financially had issues after you lost your parents, and you had to rely on Andrew to help you, but I want to give you a bit of a break. Let me treat you to a nice night tonight. Relax, and let's enjoy ourselves. I'll take you somewhere else that's special when we're done.'_

_ At first, I was worried he would be that guy who would take me to his house and have sex with me, as I dealt with a decreased drive ever since the animatronics were gone, but he soon told me where he would actually take me._

_ 'There is a new park that opened up on the north side of town,' he continued. 'Maybe we could go for a walk and check it out.'_

_ My panic attack I was still having was finally dying down. 'Sounds nice. I would love to do that.'_

_ 'Come on. Let's go eat, and we'll go to the park later. You need a nice, relaxing night.'_

_ 'Thanks, Viktor.'_

_ After we ate, we did go to the new park, and it was very nice and relaxing to walk through. As we looked around, I realized something about myself._

_ I discovered that I've never been so calm around a guy I was dating in all my life, let alone being around someone who was classy and extremely laid back. While I did have a few boyfriends in my life, some of those being caring and patient towards me, Viktor was someone different. While he was patient from the beginning, he became more calm when finding out about my mental problems and decreased sex drive and what caused them--including my issues with Michael, trying not to be attacked by the Nightmares, losing my loved ones, etc. He told me he didn't really care for sex, as he also had problems getting...ready and would be glad to stick to a romantic relationship._

_ The other guys I've been with were all about fun in the bedroom, but Viktor was able to prove to me that sex is not what he was completely after. During my two months of dating him, our relationship involved no sex whatsoever. It will most likely be that way for a while._

_ The second time Viktor decided to take me out was at another restaurant that was expensive, but it wasn't as pricey as the last one we went to. We ate there, and after a couple drinks of alcohol that I had at the restaurant, he took me back home when I told him before I wasn't feeling so well. He came into my house with me and watched over me to make sure I was okay, but I insisted that he'd leave. Viktor wanted to stay, as he felt that he really needed to check on me, but he left soon afterwards._

_ Basically, our dates have been on and off these past two months. We just plan a date whenever we're both free, and after it's planned out, we go ahead and do it. Other times when we're not free, we are both doing our own things, whether it is work, hanging out with friends, or other basic stuff like that. We sometimes talk to each other on the phone when we're not together, but he's not a huge fan of communicating via phone; he's quite a social guy and prefers talking to anyone in person._

_ But aside of our dates, I have been mostly busy with work. Since leaving Fredbear's, I moved onto being a receptionist. I didn't think I'd be 'mentally prepared' for college after dealing with the animatronics and losing some of the people I was close to, but even today, I am still bothered by those things. For now, this job is enough to get me by._

_ I work every day, except Sundays, at a medical clinic and get paid twice as more than I did at Fredbear's; I make about eight dollars an hour, which is a decent amount for me. _

_ Before I started work there, though, I was interviewed, but I went to my interview with my closed eye exposed. The employer wasn't bothered by it, thankfully, and hired me. But before, I was told that in case anyone is weirded out by it, I would have to cover it with some of my hair; it's hard, because the women there have to keep their hair tied back, and I don't have enough bangs to use to cover up my eye._

_ I purposely grew out my hair from a pixie cut to a straight, long kind of style in case I needed to cover it up for any reason. While I got it styled once it grew, I also had some parts of my hair cut and moved into the center to give me some bangs. Even when testing out the new bangs I got, it still wasn't enough to completely cover my eye. The stylist tried her best to make sure it was covered, but I went with whatever she could manage to do._

_ But with my hair covering up my eye, and with it originally being for any job I get, I also fell into one of my 'I look ugly' spells and covered my eye outside of my workplace. I was fine at first with my eye being exposed, but because of the self-esteem I had that was damaged due to Michael and another guy I tried to date a few years back, I dealt with those spells until Viktor came along and helped me regain confidence. Sofia even tried to help me, and afterwards, here I am with my closed eye out, not caring what anyone has to say._

_ I also talked with Andrew and some of my other friends if they had any advice on increasing my self-esteem. Andrew gave me some helpful tips, followed by Elijah, and Zariah even jumped in to help me out. _

_ Zariah was the only one that gave me a personal story as a way to add onto what she had to say to me. When I called her up about a day or so ago, she brought up what happened between her and Nightmare Freddy, but she also mentioned another personal story._

_ 'I can say that you should just not fret about what people have to tell you,' she explained to me. 'I had that damn Nightmare Freddy fella tell me how I was worthless and all this when he was...you know, and those insults he made completely destroyed me. I've been bullied almost all my life, and simple, harmful words that are said to someone can do some damage to them. I've learned that you should only focus on the more important things in life, and obviously, people who are rude to you aren't one of those important things, but you know what's important? Focus on being with your friends. Spend time with your boyfriend. Do anything that makes you feel safe and happy. Just know that you are loved, and whoever is saying crude things to you...are complete liars. If they don't have a clear reason to call you such negative things, then there is no point in them even trying to hurt you.'_

_ Sofia happened to bring up the same thing once I began to talk to her afterwards--that if no one had an explanation for calling me certain things, there is no reason for them to even say those things. She told me about some other stuff in terms of bullying, like the reason that people insult others is either because they are insecure, or they just want the need to control others. She happened to also mention that while the effects cause damage to someone, the person being bullied can always be brave and stand up to whoever is teasing them._

_ Sure my destroyed self-esteem caused me to grow into that 'I am ugly, so I need to cover my one eye up to look beautiful' stage, but while I am confident most of the time, I knew that back then, I wasn't able to stand up to Nightmare Freddy when he would say rude things to me. Of course he was a monster, but even then, I think I should have been a lot braver when around him. Me slipping into that low self-esteem phase from his hurtful words would only result in even more mental damage._

_ Speaking of 'mental damage,' Sofia began to suspect something about Michael that would have led me into complete insanity. From her looking back on and studying his behavior, she started to think that he would turn into a physically abusive guy. I didn't know what she meant, but she eventually explained._

_ 'Think about it: he was already emotionally abusive in a way,' she told me. 'Him controlling you like that would have most likely led him to getting physical with you. Some emotionally abusive guys can get out of control so quickly that they turn towards violence against their partners, as another way to control them. Well, Michael was already physically abusive towards Matthew, and he could have started to be the same way to you if he had the chance. Be glad you got out of the relationship, Grace, because Michael's easy anger and jealousy could have led him to do more horrible stuff.'_

_ 'I never thought he would possibly be abusive that way,' I replied. _

_ 'That's exactly what a victim would say. You see, Grace, emotionally abusive people can be manipulative towards their partners, and when they've caused enough manipulation, their partner most likely would not realize the abuse that is being done to them.'_

_ Look, either way, I knew it was best for me to leave the relationship. I didn't realize the things Michael was doing to me right away until I met Matthew, and he happened to say something about his older brother, which got me suspicious. Little did I know that Matthew was actually right. Although he's gone, I have to thank Matthew for warning me that something was up with Michael. Maybe it should have been my responsibility to watch Michael's behavior, but I gained so much trust for him that it seemed like he never did anything wrong to me._

_ But as Sofia told me, that's something a victim of an abusive relationship would say._

_ Well, aside from all that bullying stuff, I feel pretty great for all the shit I've been through in the past. I may be all happy right now like there is nothing wrong with my life, but I know that my life didn't turn out to have a make-believe 'happily ever after' ending like in those Hollywood movies. What happened in 1983 was real life, and I can't go back to change anything. I never had the ability to magically avoid my loved ones' deaths. Plus, everything that occurred back then still gets to me today and sometimes makes me cry when I think about it. _

_ No happy ending there._

_ Life has no happy endings; as negative as it sounds, it's completely true. I have never heard of anyone who has a true happy ending; at least they all have some sort of negative ending to their lives._

_ I mean, with my life, sure the animatronics were destroyed, and that sounds like a total celebration. But what about the other aspects? _

_ My parents, who I never heard from again ever since I first suspected they were dead._

_ My two friends, who I had sister-like relationships with._

_ My ex's little brother, who didn't deserve the terrible treatment from Michael._

_ All of that will still continue to haunt me. _

_ And also, look at me--I'm on medications for fuck's sake! I was considered more mentally stable back then before the whole animatronic incident, but I have two bottles of pills for different mental illnesses I have sitting in my medicine cabinet--one for an anxiety disorder, and one that's commonly known among the military, which is PTSD._

_ Just as a fact, PTSD isn't always found in war veterans. I hate it when people always think that disorder is found in soldiers only, because it can be triggered by other events. Sofia even thinks that sort of logic makes no sense._

_ Clearly, I have seen a couple of my loved ones brutally murdered right in front of me. While I didn't see my parents or Matthew getting killed, I still have at least some of these flashbacks of me seeing my friends' dead bodies, and those already get me anxious enough._

_ One of my friends had her throat slit open, and she eventually died right on Andrew's kitchen floor from blood loss._

_ My other friend was found dead when she was staying at one of the hospitals in this town, hanging by a rope in the corner of her room. I prefer not sharing the graphic details again._

_ There was just no happy ending after the animatronics were gone. While I did celebrate a bit, I only realized the true things that will remain with me the rest of my life--my lost loved ones._

_ Life, in general, never has any happy endings._

_ It never does._

_ Never._"


	69. The Aftermath (Part 3)

"**October 5th, 1994**

**11:54 am**

_I realized my entries here have large gaps in between dates, but that's because I've been busy a lot lately, just with work and...everything._

_ Good news is that I've been feeling a lot more relaxed and less stressed these days, though I'm still a bit messed up in a way. I'm trying to follow the daily amount of pills I take, practicing some calming methods, and just going out with my friends or my boyfriend for some fresh air. My psychologist--I visit this other woman who helps me with my mental health, but I also have Sofia help me a bit for small pieces of advice--noticed that my well-being is improving, but it's hardly increasing also. Both of them thought that I still have a long way to go in order to go back to the mentally stable girl I was before._

_ Right now, I'm taking a break from work. My boss had me sit in the break room of the clinic for a bit for my lunch break, but I took this opportunity to write instead. I'm not gonna lie; I am really not that hungry at the moment. _

_ Also, this is the first time I ever brought my journal with me to work. I honestly don't mind if anyone snoops around in my journal; there isn't anything that I think is way too personal about myself. If they do, well, just reading it will have them learn more about me. They'll understand that there's more to my life than what they think._

_ But at the same time, I have tried to keep my journal as hidden as possible. Maybe my privacy is important._

_ While I do waste my 30 minutes of my break, I did have some other news not involving me, and honestly, I don't really care for this after my problem with the company, but I'll just say it._

_ I heard that a couple of the Fazbear Entertainment locations are easily losing popularity. After the incident with the Nightmares, followed by William Afton killing five or six children at one of the locations--whatever the number of children was--lots of parents are feeling unsafe about bringing their kids there. I wouldn't blame them. All of the locations hardly had any security, except they only had security cameras. If the restaurants wanted to continue running as businesses, the least they could do is to hire security guards to prevent another incident involving a kid's death._

_ After Matthew's death, Fredbear's shut down completely for a bit. I heard that there were renovations done to the temporarily abandoned building back in 1987, but I never knew if they opened back up. If they did, they better have a couple people guarding the Fredbear and Spring Bonnie animatronics._

_ And even in 1987, there was a story I read in the newspaper about some kid getting their frontal lobe bitten off. Unlike Matthew having his head bitten down, this other kid survived their injury._

_ This company is going downhill fast. I wonder how all of these events are happening, yet they still have quite a bit of success. Are people literally this oblivious? Hell, the whole company should have shut down after the Nightmares were first built and after Matthew's death occurred. These locations are meant to be family-friendly and welcoming to children; they're not, though, with these murders and shit going on within them. _

_ Besides, I think the company is on the verge of shutting down soon anyways, despite them still having some success. Just after all the murders or other incidents that show up in the news, as I said before, a lot of parents are refusing to take their children to any of the restaurants. Also, when Fredbear's Family Diner was vandalized due to the Nightmares being active, that caused a bit of a decrease in popularity in the company, too. Yeah, all locations should just be shut down at this point._

_ As a note, too, with my old workplace being vandalized, the CEO of Fazbear Entertainment came out with a statement, saying that the main headquarters of the company was vandalized in a way, too, after the news about the Nightmares went national. The headquarters was found with windows cracked and smashed open, spray paint all across the sign and front of the building with crude words, and one of the guards on the ground with his head cracked open. Supposedly, though, the people who snuck out to that building during the night to cause that madness were later arrested. _

_ Seems as if people are really frustrated with this company. As angry as I am with Fazbear Entertainment, too, whoever killed that guy guarding the headquarters went too far with their actions._

_ The only thing I don't understand about the company is if someone visiting one of the restaurants caused problems, the manager of that location bans them from all places. That makes no sense to me, because how is banning someone going to help for any more possible troublemakers in the future? _

_ I received a letter from Michael not too long ago, and although I hated him, I only read the first paragraph of what he wrote. He mentioned there that he was doing time in prison after murdering Matthew and that he was also banned from all Fazbear locations. The least the damn company could do is to step up their security game. Banning someone for causing trouble that could have easily been prevented wouldn't solve anything._

_ (By the way, I ripped up Michael's letter after reading the first paragraph and threw it away afterwards. I felt satisfied doing that.)_

_ Anyways, it's just crazy what's all going on with the company. In my opinion, the CEO should give up and shut all locations down forever._

_ I already can tell that in the future, there are just going to be more messed up stuff that'll happen, and I doubt the CEO won't shut down the restaurants for another few years._

_ I have a feeling that will most definitely happen."_

_* * *_

_"8:35 pm_

_ Apparently, I didn't have the motivation to continue my entry from earlier. While I have been feeling great these days, I think I fell back into a minor anxiety episode without me realizing, like as if I thought I was fine, but it suddenly got to me that I actually wasn't._

_ I don't know. I'm confused about myself._

_ But anyways, as I got off work for the night, I happened to visit the same cemetery I went to during Matthew's funeral. I haven't been there for such a long time that I felt as if I wanted to go back and visit his grave again. Little did I know that I actually ran into one of Michael's ex-friends, Joshua, and I originally did not expect myself to, even after a few years._

_ He was standing in front of Matthew's grave with his hands in his pockets and had his head bent down towards the ground. It seemed as if he had just woken up from a nap, as his hair was all wild and not brushed down. While he did dress like he took his time on his outfit, I could tell that he appeared like he was too worn out and exhausted to fix up the rest of himself. _

_ I slowly walked up to him. 'Are you okay?'_

_ Joshua hesitated. 'Does it look like I'm okay? My old friend killed his brother! You'll never understand what it's like being a jerk to a helpless child, only to have him murdered due to doing reckless stuff involving him! Leave me alone, stranger!'_

_ 'Stranger? Joshua...don't you recognize me? I know I haven't seen you for years, but--''_

_ He never looked at me or said anything._

_ 'It's Grace, Michael's ex-girlfriend. I was coming home from work, and I wanted to visit this place to look at Matthew's grave and mourn him for a bit. I'm just surprised to see you here.'_

_ 'Don't bullshit me. I don't know you.' Joshua's words became less clear, as he was starting to mumble. _

_ I was still able to hear him, though. 'You do know me. Joshua, you can't be thinking we're two complete strangers after what happened to Matthew.'_

_ 'We are strangers. I shouldn't be talking to you. I...shouldn't be talking to anyone.'_

_ 'You can talk to anyone. Why do you think you can't?'_

_ 'I just can't.'_

_ I eventually spotted something on him that made me hold my breath in shock. I glanced down as I noticed a few outlines of cuts on his arms, which he immediately covered up with his sleeves as soon as he saw me stare at them._

_ 'Joshua--' I trailed off as I kept my eyes on him._

_ I didn't know how to properly react. Here I was, standing near a guy who had his arms cut by some blade, but at the same time, he was someone that bullied a child who was like a son to me. I had lots of thoughts going through my head. Was I supposed to feel sorry for him, or was I supposed to still be mad at him for treating Matthew so poorly?_

_ Joshua angrily shook his head. 'I don't care if Michael mainly killed his brother; I was on it, too, and even Noah and Ethan were. It's all our fault.'_

_ 'Joshua, Michael is the one who did the killing. There was footage of you all in the action, as I heard reading a letter he sent me from prison, but Michael was shown to be the only one throwing Matthew up in Fredbear's mouth. The rest of you three never actually did anything.'_

_ 'I still was on the plan, though. I should have been in prison like where Michael is. It would've been best if I was thrown in a place where I'd let myself mentally rot down. I deserve to be punished.'_

_ As much as I may have sort of agreed to that last statement in one part of my mind, I also didn't want him to be too hard on himself. I hardly forgive people who would be treating others so badly to the point where it led to risky business, but something told me that Joshua was a lot different this time. Still, I wasn't too sure what to do._

_ 'I need to go back home. Leave me alone, alright?'_

_ As Joshua began to walk away, I kept glancing back at Matthew's grave, and I soon ran up behind him. Maybe he was too bothered by the way he treated Matthew, and he perhaps wanted to let go of the past, but he seemed as if he was mentally suffering from what happened then._

_ 'Joshua, can we please just talk?'_

_ 'I said to leave me alone!' He turned around, grabbing a pistol from his pocket, and pointed it at me. _

_ I jumped back in shock and placed both my hands up in the air. 'What is wrong with you? Don't shoot me!'_

_ With tears streaming down his face, Joshua quickly lowered the gun and looked back down at the ground. 'I--'_

_ I laid my arms back at my sides. 'Seriously, what's wrong? Why the hell did you pull out a goddamn gun on me?'_

_ He shook his head and put the weapon back in his pocket, soon walking away from me without saying a word._

_ 'Joshua? I'd like to know what is wrong with you! Why did you threaten to shoot me?"_

_ He proceeded to run away after I kept calling his name. Joshua was soon out of sight and out of the cemetery, and I couldn't see him anywhere as I was chasing after him. _

_ I stopped running and looked back at where Matthew's grave stood, which was a few feet back behind me, sighing at it._

_ 'He and Michael--and the other two--really did this to you,' I told it out loud. 'While Michael did most of it, all of them put you in this mess. I don't know if I can forgive Joshua. He is acting so paranoid and irritable, and this wasn't how he acted back then. He even said himself that he doesn't want to talk to anyone, as if he just doesn't want to be around people in general.'_

_ But after my short talk with Matthew, I couldn't resist chasing Joshua down the rest of the way, although I did try my best to see where he may have gone. The fact he had a weapon with him, followed by me seeing cuts he possibly inflicted on himself, made me feel concerned for him, despite knowing the things he has done in the past. I tried getting some information from a police officer, who was walking on a sidewalk near the cemetery, but he barely helped me._

_ Basically, I had no luck finding Joshua that time, even trying to find him afterwards in my car. I had zero luck as well trying to figure out if he went to his house or not. I didn't know where his home was, since we haven't seen each other for so long, and I also had no help trying to reach out to Ethan; he didn't answer any of my calls._

_ I gave up trying to look for Joshua for a whole hour, until I went back home. Shortly after I walked into my house, I called the police to have them track his name down and find out where he was. Although this was a guy that was previously a bully, I wanted the cops to confiscate Joshua's gun and other possible weapons to avoid him hurting himself. He already had some self-inflicted cuts on him, and I didn't want him to go as far as trying to end his life. It was obviously a bad idea for him to be owning a gun if he acted like he was out of his mind._

_ I hung up the phone after the call ended, and I sat down on my couch in exhaustion. Iris--my cat who was beginning to have some mobility problems due to her age--snuggled up next to me, and I began to pet her as I kept staring down at her. _

_ I thought things were fine with Joshua until I heard the phone ring a couple hours later. I was already on the other phone I had--which is connected to the wall--with Viktor as I was in the kitchen. I apologized to him that I had to end the conversation, and I rushed into the living room to answer the phone that was ringing. I picked up right in time, but what I was told by a cop over the phone didn't make me feel any better after what happened earlier._

_ We talked for a bit about how he had his team managed to track down Joshua's location, and after a moment of a casual conversation, I heard the words from his mouth._

_ 'We found him at his home with a gunshot wound to his head.'_

_ I knew Joshua used to be a bully, but I completely shut down when I heard this news. I never cried, although I did feel empty after the cop told me that he was dead, like a part of me cared for him._

_ After all that, I ended the call and began to think about Joshua. I realized something as I was lost in my thoughts._

_ How would his....'friends' react to this news? I heard that after the Fredbear's incident in 1983, they all split up and never talked to each other again. I know that Michael is in prison. Ethan is happy with Sofia, though I think he does sometimes have some episodes of anxiety after Matthew's death occurred. I don't know about Noah. And I know the incident back then just caused Joshua to go into complete suicidal madness and made him shoot himself. _

_ I know the guys didn't want to see each other again after Matthew's head was bitten down, as I heard that all of them hated each other for what they did, but...I don't know; I'm still confused about the whole 'forgiving a bully' sort of thing. I mean, as wrong as it is to bully and murder a child, Michael's friends never did the whole killing incident, but they went into complete insanity as if they did something far worse than just bullying. _

_ I clearly did not expect Joshua to shoot himself, if I only I had the chance to stop him before he did. I didn't even know that seeing him at the cemetery, standing in front of Matthew's grave, that would be the last time I'd ever see him."_


	70. The Aftermath (Part 4)

"**October 9, 1994**

**1:13 pm**

_Today's Sunday, so I don't have to work at all. Thankfully._

_ I spent the night with Viktor over at his house, since I was still a bit stressed out about the whole Joshua incident. Viktor did a lot for me when I came over, such as offering to make me food, letting me take a quick nap in his bed, and all of this other stuff to let me relax. He never gave me any drinks, specifically alcoholic drinks, as he thought that would make me even more stressed out._

_ You'd think that with me going over to his house and spending the night, we would fuck, but Viktor wanted to take it easy on me, so our 'sleepover' was more casual, and there were no sexual activities involved._

_ I went there around nine last night, after I called him up and asked to go to stay there for the night. Although the whole thing with Joshua happened a few days ago, I never found myself letting go of it, and I wanted to spend time with someone to get my mind off it._

_ That night when I called him, Viktor was surprised by my question. 'You okay or something? Is there a problem on your mind?'_

_ 'You heard about this Joshua guy, right?' I told him. 'I have this situation where I hated the things he did to his ex-friend's little brother years ago, but I came across him recently, and he acts like he cares now. I didn't expect him to shoot himself after he bullied a child. I know he may have felt guilt, but...I don't think he should've killed himself.'_

_ 'He bullied a child?'_

_ 'Yeah, Viktor. I thought I mentioned this to you earlier, or did I not? I can't remember.'_

_ 'I think you have. You say he caused some issues towards--what was the name?--Matthew, and your ex-boyfriend led his brother into a situation where he was killed. I think I know about Joshua--yes, you have told me.' Viktor sighed. 'Don't know what to say, Grace, other than I'm just in as much shock as you. I think some people do deserve second chances; Joshua didn't have to turn towards suicide as his answer, but...he did.'_

_ 'Unfortunately.'_

_ Viktor cleared his throat and tried mimicking a clear American accent. 'Look, if you are needing to relax with someone, go ahead and come over. I typically stay up a bit late, since I don't work until ten in the morning, but it wouldn't disturb my schedule if you visited. Don't worry about that sex stuff, because I am not willing to do anything with you; we can just lay back and do whatever.'_

_ 'You sure I won't disturb you?'_

_ 'Not at all. I'll be glad to make you some food and let you calm down for a bit. I won't give you anything with alcohol, though.'_

_ 'Why not?'_

_ 'I hear alcohol can cause some mood issues after a certain amount of glasses. Even if it's only one glass, I don't want you twice as stressed out as you already are. Don't need you an emotional wreck.'_

_ 'Well, thanks for looking out for me. I didn't think about drinking alcohol in the first place, but...yeah.'_

_ 'Anytime.' He paused. 'You see, back in Slovakia, it seems as if everyone was practically careful about alcohol. I never abused the legal limit and got myself drunk; hell, I never got drunk in all my life. But as I came over here, I heard about all the things people do to get themselves drunk; it's complete madness.'_

_ 'Welcome to this country.'_

_ 'But you seem to be one of the few American women that would not do that sort of thing. You seem as if you know how to look after yourself--someone who is responsible. I also heard somewhere that most mentally unstable people turn towards alcohol a lot, but I don't see you doing that. Glad you aren't.'_

_ 'You mentioned most people. As true as that is, even some mentally ill patients fear going towards alcohol.'_

_ 'Agreed. I don't want you falling into that issue, love. I would not like to see you suffer more from any mental problems. You already dealt with an abusive boyfriend, you had these killer animatronics after you and your friends, you lost some of your loved ones from those Nightmares, and you recently heard about Joshua's suicide. Let yourself relax. Come on over, and I'll make sure you're at peace. I hate seeing you so anxious, Grace.'_

_ 'I'm honestly trying, Viktor, but it's not easy.'_

_ 'I understand. If you change your mind and prefer to not come to my house, just so you can relax, that is fine; I won't budge at all.'_

_ 'I do want to come over. I'll be there in...half an hour.'_

_ 'Alright. I'll leave my door unlocked for you. No need to knock.'_

_ I soon hung up after telling him I loved him and mentioning that I would see him soon. _

_ Before leaving, I took a set of pajamas and casual clothes, some of my bathroom items, and my journal. I made sure Iris was okay by herself for the night, and I went to my car and drove over to his house._

_ We mainly snacked on some foods he made and watched some TV. Both of us didn't go to sleep until midnight, and we slept in his bed. When I woke up around eight the next morning, I ate some breakfast he cooked for me, changed into my clothes, packed up my stuff, and drove back home in the course of two hours--all that basic stuff._

_ I came back home to see Iris curled up on the couch. She had her head rested on one of her legs, and she opened her eyes and stared up at me as I closed the front door behind me. I smiled nervously at her and walked over to her, slowly petting her. Iris softly purred as she closed her eyes again and went back to sleep._

_ Seeing her made me frown. Because of her age, she was no longer the kitten she acted like back then; she was now moving a lot slower and had less energy to do much of anything. With her currently being around 15 or 16 years old, she was mostly laying around the house. With her growing older and losing motivation, I decided to give Iris' old toys away to Zariah, as she also had a young kitten she recently adopted, but she never had the time to go out and buy toys to entertain him._

_ Iris continued to sleep as I carefully sat down next to her, trying not to wake her. The rest of the time, I hung out on my couch petting her as she purred at me and kept her eyes closed. I felt relaxed just laying back with her and giving myself a break._

_ While I was calm then, I experienced an episode of my two mental illnesses when I was first coming home from Viktor's. As I started driving away from his house, I started to think about the dream I had when I was in a deep sleep there--one where I was murdered repeatedly by the animatronics. I blinked my eye a few times to get the image out of my head, but my mind kept showing a picture of the Nightmares. Eventually, I heard Nightmare Freddy's voice replay in my head, to which I heard, 'You are worthless, Grace.' His voice brought a tear to my eye._

_ I took a deep breath as I proceeded to head back towards my home. My mind soon cleared the pictures of all the animatronics, and I no longer heard Nightmare Freddy's voice. It's like I never intended on thinking about the Nightmares--I never wanted to--but my mind took over instead. And although the animatronics were out of my head, I continued to feel a sense of anxiousness and emptiness. _

_ An anxiety attack started to build up, and I had to pull over on the side of the road to calm down; that's how bad the attack was, and I couldn't focus at all on driving. I pressed the hazard light button and crossed my arms, looking out the window as I rode out my anxiety attack._

_ I glanced around the interior of the car, smiling as I began to turn on the radio. With this vehicle being Andrew's old Corvette he decided to give to me back in 1985 as a Christmas surprise, he was considering saving up for a used Lamborghini at first--he didn't have enough for a brand new one--but he turned that idea down. His paranoia about society led him to think he'd be viewed as a typical rich douchebag if he ever drove a supercar around, so he began to save money for a really nice, luxurious sedan._

_ During that time, I told him not to worry about what people had to say, but he still turned down the idea. _

_ 'With Sydney, though, I'd probably be in trouble,' Andrew replied. 'If I'm driving around an expensive car, I would have some girls all over me, because it's a thing where if you see a super nice car, the owner of the car has money. And what do some women want men for? Money. I just want to live a normal life, and I don't want to do things that typical wealthy people do. While the idea of driving a really expensive car sounds nice, I don't want to be driving it around like I'm trying to get attention from women.'_

_ 'I understand, but it's society that needs to get its act together; it's not your fault. If you want to get the car, get it. Don't listen to the stereotypes people have to throw at you.'_

_ 'The majority of stereotypes out there are complete bullshit; I don't believe in them. I might as well just get myself a sedan or something more basic.'_

_ 'You had your Corvette. I thought that would get people's attention, too.'_

_ 'I think lots of people would go crazy over a Lamborghini, rather than a Chevy sports car.'_

_ Ever since giving me the car on that Christmas day, I didn't expect him to be giving me the keys to the Corvette. What I also didn't know until he revealed it to me was that before handing his car over, he had secretly leased the Corvette's ownership over to me. Either way, I took the car and thanked him. _

_ While he did think that the Chevy wouldn't get a lot of attention, although it is a nice looking sports car, I may have had only one guy try to get with me after he saw my car, but this was not too long after the Nightmares were destroyed--around three years since they were gone._

_ I was 21 at the time, and I remember going out to get some alcoholic drinks. It was a day after my birthday, just wanted to wait a bit to be safe, and there was this young man--he appeared to be around my age--who knocked on my window after I entered my car. To make sure he wouldn't do anything, I locked my car and rolled down the window not even halfway. _

_ 'Yes?' I casually asked the man._

_ He smiled at me and placed his hands in his pockets. 'This your car?'_

_ 'Why do you need to know?'_

_ 'I'm just wondering.'_

_ 'Not a valid reason.'_

_ 'Okay, well, I was asking you, because this car does look really sexy, but that's not the only thing that caught my attention; I can see you're beautiful, too. If this is yours, I think it would be a nice vehicle for us to drive around in. You got some money, am I right? How does a fun time together sound to you?'_

_ 'Are you...asking me out?'_

_ 'Hate to be so open, but yeah, I am.'_

_ 'But you are asking me out because you saw this car.'_

_ 'It wasn't the only thing I thought looked good.'_

_ I shook my head at him. 'You're better off finding someone else. Besides...I'm not available to be taken out right now.'_

_ 'Are you really going to turn me down? You serious?'_

_ 'Yeah, and if it's going to bother you, go homosexual, alright? I don't think any woman would want to date you, especially since you're that heartless person who probably would date and marry me for my money, not my love. Sorry, but I would only date a guy who actually cares about a girl.'_

_ The man eventually backed off. 'Oh...wow.'_

_ I noticed that he looked surprised. 'What? Did that hurt you?'_

_ 'No, it's not that. What the fuck is up with your eye?'_

_ 'My eye?' I realized my hair had fallen out of place, revealing my closed eye. 'As disgusting as it sounds, I'm missing an eye. It's a long story on how I lost it, but I prefer not to share.'_

_ 'Animatronic, I'm guessing?'_

_ 'Um, yes. How'd you know?'_

_ 'Everyone in this town knows the Nightmares back then did some pretty graphic stuff. Lots of people were attacked in the worst ways possible. It wouldn't be a surprise that you're missing an eye because one of them happened to pull it out. Who did it?'_

_ 'Well, it was Nightmare Foxy who pulled my eye out. He thought it'd be fun to do such a thing, when really, it was painful as hell.' I started up my car, and the engine began to roar loudly. 'Anyways, I don't want to continue talking to you. I have places I need to be at.'_

_ 'So, no date then?'_

_ 'Fuck off, okay? I don't want to even look at you.'_

_ The man crossed his arms. 'You're being a bitch, you know that?'_

_ 'And you're being a desperate jerk.' I rolled up the window and drove away from him._

_ 'You almost ran over my damn foot!' I heard him yell, although his voice was muffled and distant._

_ I'm still surprised I had a male gold digger come up to me, especially since gold diggers are mostly women. I didn't think of him as being one at first, but since he wanted to date me because he saw my car, that clearly told me he probably wanted me for the money I had._

_ I also didn't know why that man was going crazy over a sports car I had that Andrew handed over to me. As nice and expensive as sports cars like the Corvette look, they're not the most expensive vehicles in the world; supercars are the more pricey cars out there. It wasn't like my Corvette was anything too special; even now, since it's older, it's not worth as much. I know Andrew told me he first bought it in new condition, but as I said, it's now older, so it's not worth a lot on the market. _

_ But anyways, as I proceeded to sit in my car during my anxiety attack, I noticed a police car slowly driving next to me. The cop driving it parked the car and rolled down his window, and I also rolled mine down as well. _

_ 'Everything alright?' he asked._

_ 'Sort of,' I told him, trying to stop my shaky arms. 'Just having a bad anxiety attack. I didn't want to drive and not be able to focus at the same time.'_

_ 'Smart. That's what you should do.' He smiled at me. 'Anything I can do to help you?'_

_ 'No, but thanks anyways.'_

_ 'Well, alright then. Are you sure?'_

_ 'I'm sure. I just need some time to myself.'_

_ The cop shrugged his shoulders and rolled up the passenger window, soon driving away from me._

_ It felt like forever until I finally calmed myself down. I sighed and started the Corvette back up before driving the rest of the way home._

_ I didn't tell Viktor that I had another anxiety attack until I was home, when I started to call him just to talk to him for a bit. At first, he asked what was wrong, and I told him that I heard Nightmare Freddy's voice in my head, which brought on the anxiety. Viktor hesitated--as he was probably still weirded out by the idea of killer animatronics going around and terrorizing a not very big city, since he also never was from a place where restaurants had animatronics as entertainers--but he eventually comforted me with advice on how to let myself relax and distract myself from the things that were bothering me._

_ After a long talk, I reminded him that I had stuff to do and ended the call. While speaking with him did calm myself down, I still had the animatronics on my mind, but I was able to get them out by spending time with Iris and watching some TV. Talking with Zariah, too, brought upon some tranquility, until she started to mention Nightmare Freddy and what he did to her when she was younger. I only sat in silence, secretly in fear, as she was telling her short story._

_ 'I just can't believe what happened to me back then,' she said, finishing it up. 'While my dad was unfortunately attacked, me and Casey escaped successfully--it was nice that Casey was trying to defend me from Freddy, although he really couldn't do anything against a seven-foot-tall robot. When I drove away from my house, I just went to a special children's home. I could have gone to my mom's, but she lost her parental rights from her drug addictions. I also didn't want to go to a friend's house, because I know Freddy or his friends would follow me, and I didn't want my own friend to be at risk for being attacked. But it's crazy how me and Casey escaped Freddy; I thought I would have died that night. I'm thankful that I'm alive, and while I was also thankful to have my dog make it out as well, I unfortunately lost him back in '89. It's okay, because I'm thinking about getting another dog soon, but I gotta talk to my boyfriend, Steven, and see what his opinion is.'_

_ I didn't say anything._

_ 'I still have the same holes Nightmare Freddy indented in my arm at that time. I'm often asked about them by others, to which I just explain the story. I don't mention him harassing me, though, because they would probably find that weird or unbelievable.'_

_ I remained silent, almost feeling myself cry._

_ 'Grace, are you still there?'_

_ 'Yeah,' I replied. 'Just listening to you--that's all.'_

_ 'Okay. Well, I was worried that something was wrong. You sure you're fine?'_

_ 'I'm absolutely sure.'_

_ But Zariah didn't know I was actually beginning to cry, although I was really trying to hide it. It's been 11 years since the animatronics were gone, and the thought of them still bothered me as if they were just destroyed yesterday."_


	71. The Aftermath (Part 5)

"**October 11th, 1994**

**2:51 am**

_I currently am having some trouble sleeping tonight. You would think it would be because of the animatronics, as I have adjusted to a different schedule back in 1983, but while I did develop insomnia back then, I have been cured from it for years. _

_ No, I just have Joshua on my mind. I still wonder why he did that...horrible thing. Did I happen to say something that made him even more upset than before, which led him to end his life? If I did, I never intended on trying to hurt him. But now that I think about it, it was most likely himself that he was fed up with and not me._

_ Despite him previously being a friend of Michael, I have never felt so sorry for someone who caused problems for Matthew, and I'm still struggling with mixed emotions. One part of me hates Joshua for what he did, but another part of me tells me that he deserved to be forgiven._

_ Unfortunately, though, he thought killing himself would be his only solution. I wish I had the chance to stop him from doing so, but he was already out of my sight as I was chasing after him._

_ I don't know if Michael does know about his death, but if he ever finds out soon enough, I don't think he would care...or he may actually be a nice guy and will care about Joshua's death. I'm guessing that when Michael does find out about his friend's death, he would be dealing with mixed feelings like me; it would probably be that situation where Michael previously agreed to have him and his friends not talk to each other again, but soon hearing about a friend's death would get Michael mourning him as if they were still very close friends. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case._

_ However, I did share the news with Ethan earlier, but he wasn't too sure how to properly react. _

_ 'He's...dead?' he asked me._

_ 'Yes, by suicide,' I told him. 'I was talking to him when visiting Matthew's grave--which I was surprised Joshua was also there--but he ran off to end his life. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't keep up with him.'_

_ 'I know what we did back then was our fault, but he didn't have to go that far. I didn't fully hate him, though I also was unhappy with him, and myself, because of what we did to Matthew. I still have some mental problems just looking back at that, but I moved on and proved myself to others that I would be a different person; Joshua could have at least done the same. I believe some people deserve a second chance, and I think that's what he needed.'_

_ 'Well, we all know who doesn't need a second chance.'_

_ 'I know. Fucking Michael. He's the only one that I wish was being treated poorly as he's in prison. Joshua is dead, and I don't know about Noah, since he suddenly ran off after the incident at Fredbear's. I'm not sure if he even wants to talk to me again, but most likely not; I've never heard from him since '83.'_

_ 'Really?' I was surprised to hear that news._

_ 'Yeah.'_

_ 'I hope he's not in the same state as Joshua was. Supposedly, him bullying Matthew led him to insanity.'_

_ 'I don't want him to kill himself either. As much as I hate him, he just better not do such a thing.'_

_ 'Why do you hate him?'_

_ 'We are in that situation where we all hate one another for what we did to Matthew. Even all of the hatred I am currently holding onto goes towards myself; yes, I also hate myself, but Sofia eventually found out I was feeling that way and pulled all her psychological advice on me. Look, as much as I love her, she didn't need to give me a long talk.'_

_ 'She does care for you, though.'_

_ 'I know. Can we...switch the subject, please, and not talk about...Joshua anymore?'' Ethan laughed nervously, although it sounded like he was going to cry. 'Well, I never mentioned this to you, but Sofia changed dramatically ever since we started dating, and even since she started visiting her own psychologist. She's a lot less creepy, and...she also stopped being a freak, if you know what I'm talking about.'_

_ 'Oh. What makes you say that?'_

_ 'She just lost motivation after that accidental pregnancy. We were hesitant on when it happened, but we later kept the baby, only to unexpectedly lose it when she was at 17 weeks. Sofia completely shut down sexually after that. A miscarriage is no joke, Grace, and as much of a douchebag I was to a kid back then, I was devastated after hearing that our baby was dead. I waited a bit and wanted to see if we could try again, but even today, she completely lost interest in sex--completely shut down just like that. We're thinking about adopting instead.'_

_ 'And you'd think I would be at that age, too, but I haven't had motivation myself. Just from everything back then that resulted in lots of stress, my drive is extremely low. At least Viktor understands my situation and isn't upset at me for not wanting sex. Michael would have said that he wouldn't be upset with me, yet he'd go sleep with another girl anyways. I swear, Viktor is the most patient guy I've ever met.'_

_ 'He's that foreign guy from Europe, right? I heard you talk about him a bit to me when you first got with him. You met him at work and thought he was an attractive guy. I mean, what are the odds of that happening?'_

_ 'Not that often.' I smiled. 'And yes, that's him. It did make me feel a bit uncomfortable when he started to casually talk to me and asked me if we wanted to get a drink together sometime, which I stupidly agreed to.'_

_ 'But you don't regret that now.'_

_ 'You're right. At first, we were just two random people who became best friends, and now, we're dating.'_

_ 'You see, not every stranger is a bad person. There are those rare instances where whoever you meet isn't as creepy or much of a jerk as you think. You're lucky to have that man if he really makes you feel safe and happy, Grace.'_

_ 'He does. As insecure or stupid as this sounds, I haven't felt so loved by a man since dating Michael and later trying with another guy that also lied and stabbed my back. Viktor hasn't been disrespectful or immature to me in any way so far. Based on his personality, he doesn't seem like he'd be that guy who would bully me or anything like that.'_

_ 'Viktor may be the one, if--as I said--he makes you feel happy and safe. I'm sorry you had such bad luck with guys in the past, Grace. Some boys can be immature in a relationship and not know any better.'_

_ 'Right. And I'm also surprised Viktor thinks I'm still beautiful even with one eye. If I already lost my eye when I was still with Michael, he'd most likely call me a 'freak' behind my back; well, that's what my last backstabbing boyfriend did.'_

_ 'Well, he cares for you. What else is there to say?'_

_ 'I know.' I blinked my right eye slowly a few times in exhaustion. _

_ 'Speaking of that, did you tell him the reason you are missing an eye because of an animatronic?'_

_ 'I did tell him,' I replied. 'But Ethan, he never came from a place where certain restaurants had animatronic entertainers, so he was obviously a bit confused and shocked at the same time when I told him. The whole thing sounded too much for him to process, but after he later learned about the stuff in 1983 that did happen, he understood it a bit more._

_ 'He also learned about my loved ones,' I continued. 'I told him that I lost a child--that I treated like a son--to that damn Fredbear animatronic biting down on his head. I mentioned my friends were brutally attacked, with one of them dying right in front of me. I also told him about my parents and how I wasn't able to see if they were dead, but there was a chance they were. I just told him everything in greater detail, and he didn't know what to say to all of that.'_

_ Our conversation began to turn less emotional as I switched the subject, and we started to talk about other random things. However, the things I mentioned to Ethan, that I told Viktor before, made me shake in fear. I tried to hide the anxiety as I proceeded to talk with Ethan._

_ I still couldn't believe everything back in 1983 happened so unexpectedly. The Nightmares--Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Fredbear--all caused terror to this town and killed so many people that didn't deserve death. And of course, Mr. William Afton, also known as 'Purple Guy,' is still out there somewhere, but I'm not sure what he's up to; he's probably committing more suspicious, evil acts._

_ While everything seems fine now, it's still no happy ending for me. My parents are dead. My two friends are dead. Matthew is dead. I could've been dead myself after being attacked. There was so much going on that emotionally tortured me, and I still have those feelings today. Plus, on top of those, I'm still on medications, which taking those makes me feel like I'm a total emotional mess. _

_ Sure, I may have a boyfriend who looks out for me, some new friends to talk to, and all this, but everything from my past can't leave me. _

_ I also still struggle with a bit of hallucinations, such as hearing Nightmare Freddy's voice in my head and seeing some flashback images of the incidents back then through my own eye. Luckily, Sofia got rid of her own hallucinations and gave me advice on how to handle mine._

_ At this point, leaving everything in the past behind isn't something I can easily do. Everything is so stuck to me that it's practically impossible to let go of them. _

_ There are days that I wish none of that stuff back then ever happened, yet I can't go back and change that. Also, it all did happen, which I sometimes refuse to believe._

_ But this is the life I have now--emotionally fucked up from a whole situation that could have killed me or more of my loved ones, if the animatronics had the chance. I mean, what if the ambulance--after Nightmare Freddy attacked me--didn't come on time? What if my friends were still attacked, but I never actually knew about their deaths, like with my parents? The more important question, though is...what if the animatronics were fully impossible to destroy? That would obviously mean more trouble._

_ My current life is...average, but still not a really great one. I know everything back then all just happened, and I know it'll all be hard to let go. _

_ But what I lived in 1983 was a true nightmare--a nightmare that I still couldn't believe I was in. _

_ It was a nightmare that required a fight for avoiding the animatronics as much as possible._

_ And while I am living a more decent life, I know I'll be scarred for quite a while. It's something I can't help._

_ Well, I'm done writing for now. I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow._

_ Goodnight...and sweet dreams."_

______________

_Okay, this is the official ending of this book. I hope you all liked it. Thanks for reading!_

_By the way, I'll put up a character description part up describing the characters that make more appearances than any other certain characters; this will apply to both protagonists and antagonists. The descriptions contain spoilers, too, so I'll put it at the far end of this book._

_"October 11th, 1994_

_2:51 am_

_ I currently am having some trouble sleeping tonight. You would think it would be because of the animatronics, as I have adjusted to a different schedule back in 1983, but while I did develop insomnia back then, I have been cured from it for years. _

_ No, I just have Joshua on my mind. I still wonder why he did that...horrible thing. Did I happen to say something that made him even more upset than before, which led him to end his life? If I did, I never intended on trying to hurt him. But now that I think about it, it was most likely himself that he was fed up with and not me._

_ Despite him previously being a friend of Michael, I have never felt so sorry for someone who caused problems for Matthew, and I'm still struggling with mixed emotions. One part of me hates Joshua for what he did, but another part of me tells me that he deserved to be forgiven._

_ Unfortunately, though, he thought killing himself would be his only solution. I wish I had the chance to stop him from doing so, but he was already out of my sight as I was chasing after him._

_ I don't know if Michael does know about his death, but if he ever finds out soon enough, I don't think he would care...or he may actually be a nice guy and will care about Joshua's death. I'm guessing that when Michael does find out about his friend's death, he would be dealing with mixed feelings like me; it would probably be that situation where Michael previously agreed to have him and his friends not talk to each other again, but soon hearing about a friend's death would get Michael mourning him as if they were still very close friends. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case._

_ However, I did share the news with Ethan earlier, but he wasn't too sure how to properly react. _

_ 'He's...dead?' he asked me._

_ 'Yes, by suicide,' I told him. 'I was talking to him when visiting Matthew's grave--which I was surprised Joshua was also there--but he ran off to end his life. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't keep up with him.'_

_ 'I know what we did back then was our fault, but he didn't have to go that far. I didn't fully hate him, though I also was unhappy with him, and myself, because of what we did to Matthew. I still have some mental problems just looking back at that, but I moved on and proved myself to others that I would be a different person; Joshua could have at least done the same. I believe some people deserve a second chance, and I think that's what he needed.'_

_ 'Well, we all know who doesn't need a second chance.'_

_ 'I know. Fucking Michael. He's the only one that I wish was being treated poorly as he's in prison. Joshua is dead, and I don't know about Noah, since he suddenly ran off after the incident at Fredbear's. I'm not sure if he even wants to talk to me again, but most likely not; I've never heard from him since '83.'_

_ 'Really?' I was surprised to hear that news._

_ 'Yeah.'_

_ 'I hope he's not in the same state as Joshua was. Supposedly, him bullying Matthew led him to insanity.'_

_ 'I don't want him to kill himself either. As much as I hate him, he just better not do such a thing.'_

_ 'Why do you hate him?'_

_ 'We are in that situation where we all hate one another for what we did to Matthew. Even all of the hatred I am currently holding onto goes towards myself; yes, I also hate myself, but Sofia eventually found out I was feeling that way and pulled all her psychological advice on me. Look, as much as I love her, she didn't need to give me a long talk.'_

_ 'She does care for you, though.'_

_ 'I know. Can we...switch the subject, please, and not talk about...Joshua anymore?'' Ethan laughed nervously, although it sounded like he was going to cry. 'Well, I never mentioned this to you, but Sofia changed dramatically ever since we started dating, and even since she started visiting her own psychologist. She's a lot less creepy, and...she also stopped being a freak, if you know what I'm talking about.'_

_ 'Oh. What makes you say that?'_

_ 'She just lost motivation after that accidental pregnancy. We were hesitant on when it happened, but we later kept the baby, only to unexpectedly lose it when she was at 17 weeks. Sofia completely shut down sexually after that. A miscarriage is no joke, Grace, and as much of a douchebag I was to a kid back then, I was devastated after hearing that our baby was dead. I waited a bit and wanted to see if we could try again, but even today, she completely lost interest in sex--completely shut down just like that. We're thinking about adopting instead.'_

_ 'And you'd think I would be at that age, too, but I haven't had motivation myself. Just from everything back then that resulted in lots of stress, my drive is extremely low. At least Viktor understands my situation and isn't upset at me for not wanting sex. Michael would have said that he wouldn't be upset with me, yet he'd go sleep with another girl anyways. I swear, Viktor is the most patient guy I've ever met.'_

_ 'He's that foreign guy from Europe, right? I heard you talk about him a bit to me when you first got with him. You met him at work and thought he was an attractive guy. I mean, what are the odds of that happening?'_

_ 'Not that often.' I smiled. 'And yes, that's him. It did make me feel a bit uncomfortable when he started to casually talk to me and asked me if we wanted to get a drink together sometime, which I stupidly agreed to.'_

_ 'But you don't regret that now.'_

_ 'You're right. At first, we were just two random people who became best friends, and now, we're dating.'_

_ 'You see, not every stranger is a bad person. There are those rare instances where whoever you meet isn't as creepy or much of a jerk as you think. You're lucky to have that man if he really makes you feel safe and happy, Grace.'_

_ 'He does. As insecure or stupid as this sounds, I haven't felt so loved by a man since dating Michael and later trying with another guy that also lied and stabbed my back. Viktor hasn't been disrespectful or immature to me in any way so far. Based on his personality, he doesn't seem like he'd be that guy who would bully me or anything like that.'_

_ 'Viktor may be the one, if--as I said--he makes you feel happy and safe. I'm sorry you had such bad luck with guys in the past, Grace. Some boys can be immature in a relationship and not know any better.'_

_ 'Right. And I'm also surprised Viktor thinks I'm still beautiful even with one eye. If I already lost my eye when I was still with Michael, he'd most likely call me a 'freak' behind my back; well, that's what my last backstabbing boyfriend did.'_

_ 'Well, he cares for you. What else is there to say?'_

_ 'I know.' I blinked my right eye slowly a few times in exhaustion. _

_ 'Speaking of that, did you tell him the reason you are missing an eye because of an animatronic?'_

_ 'I did tell him,' I replied. 'But Ethan, he never came from a place where certain restaurants had animatronic entertainers, so he was obviously a bit confused and shocked at the same time when I told him. The whole thing sounded too much for him to process, but after he later learned about the stuff in 1983 that did happen, he understood it a bit more._

_ 'He also learned about my loved ones,' I continued. 'I told him that I lost a child--that I treated like a son--to that damn Fredbear animatronic biting down on his head. I mentioned my friends were brutally attacked, with one of them dying right in front of me. I also told him about my parents and how I wasn't able to see if they were dead, but there was a chance they were. I just told him everything in greater detail, and he didn't know what to say to all of that.'_

_ Our conversation began to turn less emotional as I switched the subject, and we started to talk about other random things. However, the things I mentioned to Ethan, that I told Viktor before, made me shake in fear. I tried to hide the anxiety as I proceeded to talk with Ethan._

_ I still couldn't believe everything back in 1983 happened so unexpectedly. The Nightmares--Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Fredbear--all caused terror to this town and killed so many people that didn't deserve death. And of course, Mr. William Afton, also known as 'Purple Guy,' is still out there somewhere, but I'm not sure what he's up to; he's probably committing more suspicious, evil acts._

_ While everything seems fine now, it's still no happy ending for me. My parents are dead. My two friends are dead. Matthew is dead. I could've been dead myself after being attacked. There was so much going on that emotionally tortured me, and I still have those feelings today. Plus, on top of those, I'm still on medications, which taking those makes me feel like I'm a total emotional mess. _

_ Sure, I may have a boyfriend who looks out for me, some new friends to talk to, and all this, but everything from my past can't leave me. _

_ I also still struggle with a bit of hallucinations, such as hearing Nightmare Freddy's voice in my head and seeing some flashback images of the incidents back then through my own eye. Luckily, Sofia got rid of her own hallucinations and gave me advice on how to handle mine._

_ At this point, leaving everything in the past behind isn't something I can easily do. Everything is so stuck to me that it's practically impossible to let go of them. _

_ There are days that I wish none of that stuff back then ever happened, yet I can't go back and change that. Also, it all did happen, which I sometimes refuse to believe._

_ But this is the life I have now--emotionally fucked up from a whole situation that could have killed me or more of my loved ones, if the animatronics had the chance. I mean, what if the ambulance--after Nightmare Freddy attacked me--didn't come on time? What if my friends were still attacked, but I never actually knew about their deaths, like with my parents? The more important question, though is...what if the animatronics were fully impossible to destroy? That would obviously mean more trouble._

_ My current life is...average, but still not a really great one. I know everything back then all just happened, and I know it'll all be hard to let go. _

_ But what I lived in 1983 was a true nightmare--a nightmare that I still couldn't believe I was in. _

_ It was a nightmare that required a fight for avoiding the animatronics as much as possible._

_ And while I am living a more decent life, I know I'll be scarred for quite a while. It's something I can't help._

_ Well, I'm done writing for now. I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow._

_ Goodnight...and sweet dreams."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the official ending of this book. I hope you all liked it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
